The Forgotten
by Batsutousai
Summary: HIATUS! What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives? Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all? –Voldemort/Harry, AU, OOC, OCs, noHBP–
1. Prologue: What’s Lost Can Be Found

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** I'm gonna be evile and not tell you. -cackles-  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** I'm told that I can type remarkably fast, even though I can't touch-type…

**A/N:** This came to me on my way to the bus stop. When people write about the world after the "Final Battle," the Light has usually won. I'm well-known for being different, no matter what series I'm writing for. I do pairings that are rare and situations that most people don't even consider. Once again, my mind has cooked up some crazy story-line and I'm just along for the ride.  
This should be interesting... -grimaces-

* * *

Prologue:  
What's Lost Can Be Found

* * *

"Tarrant! Yo, Tarrant! Wake up! Customer!" The dark-eyed man standing before the counter called, grinning.

A man with white hair that fluttered around his shoulders and the most shocking green eyes poked his head out from a door behind the large slab of wood and scowled. "You're late, Nicholas."

Nicholas Eric Ripley, or Nick, rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Sorry, boss. I was busy with that cute gal at the flower shop."

"You're two words from heading back over there and joining her with her flower arranging for good." The pale-haired man retorted sharply. "Get your smock on and open. I have some paperwork to deal with." With that, the door slammed shut.

Nick let out a sigh and vaulted over the counter, his smile fading. _'Geeze… Guess he and Zack got in to **another** fight. How many times do I have to tell Doo to get a new boyfriend before he'll listen to me?'_ The dark-eyed man shook his head as he pulled on his work smock.

* * *

Dooley Shannon Tarrant, or Doo, for short, leaned back in his chair with a weary sigh as he heard children's voices outside his office door. His candy store did pretty well, for a small neighborhood just outside the Glasgow city limits. He never really knew why he'd decided to open the shop below his flat, he was just compelled to. As if some spirit wanted him to remember itself through this store.

Not that Doo _minded_ kids. In fact, he rather liked them. His boyfriend and lover of ten years, Zack Palmer, however, hated children with a passion. It was the one thing they always seemed to argue about.

Zack was a wonderful man, of course. If not for him, Doo would have been left in some mental ward, with no past and little chance for a future. Zack had helped him get over his lack of memories, helped him get over his disgust at his heavily scarred body, helped him start again when all he'd wanted was to die. Zack had even helped him pick his new name: Tarrant, which meant "thunder," for the storm that he'd been found in; Shannon, which meant "little old wise one," because Doo understood things which would puzzle others around him for hours; and Dooley, which meant "dark hero," for his past that was cloaked in shadows and mostly-forgotten dreams, dreams that, when he could remember them, showed him fighting evil to save humanity, or something like that.

But that was all over with, now. Doo and Zack had argued for the last time the night before. Doo had kicked Zack out and told him he never wanted to see him again, and Doo was never one to go back on his words. Zack had left, taking the changes of clothing he'd left in Doo's flat with him and swearing to take the next train to London. Doo knew, without a doubt, that he'd never see Zack again. It was just one of those things he knew.

'_Nick'll be so proud of me when he finds out.'_ Doo groaned mentally as he stood, working a few kinks out of his body as he stretched.

* * *

Nick glanced up from the cash register as the door to Doo's office opened. "Feeling better?" He inquired uneasily.

Doo offered his friend a reassuring smile as he pulled his white hair back with a leather clasp. "Yes. Sorry for snapping at you this morning."

Nick shrugged the apology off easily as he rang up a small girl's purchase. "No problem, Doo-man. It's not like I'm unused to your morning hissy fit."

Doo grimaced as he picked up a box of chocolate-covered mints to re-stock the almost-empty jar on the shelf next to the door with. "Come out to dinner with me after we close?"

"You're not taking Zack?" Nick inquired gently.

"Zack's going back to London. We broke up." Doo replied before stepping out from behind the counter and heading for the candy that needed to be re-stocked.

Nick stared after his friend in shock. _'They broke up? Last night? Well... I guess that explains his mood...'_

* * *

"Here. I want you to meet someone." Nick ordered, steering Doo towards the flower shop three doors down from the candy store as night fell around them.

"Your dream girl?" Doo inquired, cocking an eyebrow at his friend.

Nick blushed faintly and shot Doo a sharp look, making the white-haired man laugh lightly, before leading the way into the shop. "Hullo, Deva." He offered.

A girl with black hair turned to look at them. She smiled brightly when she saw Nick, showing off two rows of perfect teeth that glinted in the faint light. "Nick! I haff been vaiting for you for an hour!" She called in with a distinct accent that Doo _almost_ recognized.

'_This memory loss is getting **really** tedious...'_ The green-eyed man decided darkly as Nick greeted the girl.

"Here, Doo, this is Deva Vladislav. Deva, this is Dooley Tarrant." Nick introduced them, pulling Doo from his thoughts.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Deva said carefully. "Nick speaks of you much."

Doo shot his friend an evil look. "Oh, he can't possibly speak of me more often than he speaks of _you_, Ms Vladislav." He replied calmly before taking Deva's hand and kissing the back gently. "The pleasure is all mine, of course."

Deva giggled, blushing. "Please, call me Deva."

"Than I am Doo."

"Doo, may I borrow you for a quick moment while Deva closes the shop?" Nick growled.

"Yes, you vait outside. I'll be there quickly." Deva agreed before turning back to her flowers.

Doo allowed himself to be dragged from the shop and smirked at Nick's obvious fury. "Calm down, Nick. I do that every time I meet a pretty lady." He shrugged. "Where's she from? The accent's vaguely familiar, but I can't really remember where it's from…"

Nick let his boss change the subject with a helpless sigh. "Bulgaria. She's got a cousin that works at a private school not far from here."

"Really?" Doo blinked a few times. "Which school?"

"Hogvarts." Deva replied as she stepped from the shop, locking the door with a deft movement. "You von't haff heard of it."

Doo's eyes had widened, however, at the name of the school. "Hogwarts?" He murmured, voice distant. "It's still standing?"

Deva's eyes widened and she shot him a sharp look. "Wot did you say?" She demanded as Nick looked one in confusion.

Doo blinked twice before giving her a confused look. "I-" He blinked again and shook his head helplessly. "No idea. I've lost it again." He spun around and kicked at the ground. "Damn it!"

Nick sighed and leaned over, placing his mouth next to Deva's ear. "Doo doesn't remember anything past ten years ago, Deva. He does that sometimes, says something he doesn't realize he's said. You'll have to be patient with him."

Deva nodded, gazing at Doo's defeated stance with watery eyes. She remembered ten years ago. Many had lost their memories to the Dark Lord. It was one of the worst after-effects of the war, in her opinion. That Doo would be able to recall anything, even if just for a brief moment, was an amazing act. The people she knew who had lost their memories couldn't even do that much. "Shall ve go get some food?" She asked gently.

Doo glanced over his shoulder at his best friend and the girl Nick liked so much. "An excellent idea." He agreed, brightening suddenly.

Deva startled at the quick change, but Nick just grinned. "Well, Doo, since I've finally gotten you out of that shop, why don't _you_ pick the restaurant?"

"Your treat, eh?" Doo teased, motioning for his two companions to follow him.

"What!" Nick cried. "No! You're the one who wanted to go out!"

Doo smirked. "But you just sa-"

"Fine, fine, I'll pay." The dark-eyed man muttered, rolling his eyes. "Fucking bastard."

Doo let out a ringing laugh and draped an arm around Nick. "Ah, see, this is why I love you, Nick. You can always make me laugh."

"You are so strange." Nick replied, grinning.

Deva smiled at the two ahead of her. _'It is good Doo has such a good friend, Muggle or no.'_

* * *

Red eyes swept around the empty chamber before closing. The eyes' owner let out a soft sigh and leaned back in its chair. A hand came up to rub, gently, at the bridge of the nose, accidentally knocking a pair of glasses from their perch and sending them flying. "Damn it." The figure muttered, opening its eyes again and leaning over in the chair to retrieve the spectacles. "I'll never get used to these bloody things."

A knock came upon the heavy oaken door before the desk the red-eyed figure sat behind. "My Lord, an owl has come for you from Hogwarts."

"In." The figure ordered in a voice filled with power. It was so very different from only moments before when there had only been himself to hear his speech.

The door opened and a man with flowing white-blonde hair in his late fifties stepped in. He paused before the desk to bow before holding out a thick envelope. "It is from Severus, my Lord."

The man who was called "Lord" didn't deem this obvious statement worthy of a reply and just pulled out the parchment and read over it quickly after he'd settled his glasses back upon his nose. Once he'd finished, he nodded at the man still standing in his office. "I have something to attend to at Hogwarts. I'm leaving now. You're in charge." He ordered, standing and stuffing his glasses into a pocket of his flowing black robes. "You know the price if anything happens, Lucius."

The pale-haired man bowed in understanding. He _did_ know. Last time, he'd almost lost his life when one of the dragons got free. "How long will you be gone, my Lord?" He murmured.

The red-eyed man paused, blinking slowly at Lucius. "A week." He decided in a firm tone.

"Very good, my Lord." Lucius agreed.

"Lord" smiled coldly. "Don't mess up this time, Lucius, or I _will_ kill you." He warned evenly before disappearing with a 'CRACK!'

Lucius shuddered.

* * *

Nick left Doo to walk Deva home, since he lived on the other side of the small town from the two shop-keepers. It wasn't until Nick was out of sight that Deva spoke.

"Nick says you haff lost your memories."

Doo nodded calmly. "Yeah. You get used to it after a while."

Deva sighed sadly. "I haff a friend back in Bulgaria vo lost her memories at about the same time as you." Doo glanced at the woman in surprise. "Ve haff found no cure for those vo lost their memories in the Final Battle. Ve haff been trying and trying to find one, but the spell vos too strong."

"Final Battle?" Doo asked in a whisper. "Spell?"

Deva nodded solemnly, but ignored his questions. "I haff to visit my cousin tomorrow at Hogvarts. Vould you like to come? It might help."

"But, you said they've found no cure." Doo hissed, eyes wide. Something within himself was begging and screaming to go to this school Deva's cousin worked at.

"They haff not. But," She met his gaze evenly. "There has never been one vo has remembered anything they haff forgotten. Not even in little spurts, like you. Maybe you vill be the one to break the spell." She shrugged and turned to her shop, which Doo suddenly realized they were standing before, pulling out a key to open the door. "Think on it. I vill come by in ze early morning and you may come or not, as you vish." Deva added before stepping into the store and closing the door behind her.

Doo bit his lip before turning and continuing down the sidewalk to his own shop and his flat above it. The offer was one he had to think on.

* * *

* * *

**A/N:** I was considering making this longer, but I decided that this was a good prologue. Prologues are always short. It's fun. -cackles madly and wanders off to tackle the next chapter of Abandon-

Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think!

Batsutousai


	2. One: Hogwarts

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** I'm gonna be evile and not tell you. -cackles-  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** I should be working on Abandon, or writing the lemon for Salir right now, not messing around with The Forgotten…

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_"Doo's memory flashes"_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤_

* * *

Chapter One  
Hogwarts

* * *

Doo was waiting outside his shop's door quietly when Deva walked up to him. It was Sunday, so he didn't have to open if he didn't want to. He'd called Nick's cell phone the night before, after making up his mind to go, and left a message with his voicemail that told the other to not bother coming in that day.

"You vill come, then?"

Doo shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Even if I can't remember anything, it'll still be a way to re-connect with the past that I've lost. At the very least, I might meet a few old friends."

"If you do, they vill not remember you." Deva warned as she motioned for him to fall into step with her.

Doo let out a sigh. "Figured."

Deva offered him a sympathetic smile before shooting a quick look around the empty alley from where she'd stopped at it's mouth. Once she was sure it was clear, she dragged a confused Doo into it and held out a boot to him. "This is a Portkey. It vill take us to my cousin's room. She vill take us up for breakfast in ze Great Hall. They haff good food there."

"Will your cousin be okay with a man popping into her rooms?" Doo asked, not touching the boot.

"I haff been threatening to bring Nick for much time now. She vill be dressed ven ve get there." Deva assured him, holding out the boot again. "Touch it."

Doo let out a sigh and rested a hand on the boot. He didn't catch what Deva whispered, but, the next moment, he felt a peculiar tug at his navel and the world around him slipped out of focus. When it came back into focus again, they were in a stone room with a cheery fire lit in the fireplace. Three Victorian-style chairs were set around a polished table made of redwood. The room had a cozy feeling to it.

"Deva!" A happy woman's voice called. The owner of the voice stepped forward and hugged Deva tightly before turning to Doo, her blue eyes glinting in the firelight. "And is this your little friend Nick?"

"No." Deva smiled faintly. "This is Nick's boss, Dooley Tarrant. He is one of ze Forgotten." She explained to her cousin, whose eyes widened. "Doo, this is my cousin, Syna Krum."

A voice that was once familiar flashed through Doo's mind like lightning: _"The champion for Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum."_ He slammed his eyes closed and shook his head sharply.

"Doo?" Deva asked softly, settling a hand on the white-haired man's arm gently.

Green eyes flew open, laced with confusion. "Who is Viktor Krum?"

Syna gasped. "That vos my husband! He died in ze vor! How could you know his name!"

Doo just shook his head helplessly, but Deva supplied an answer. "He remembers things, Syna. He remembered Hogvarts, but didn't know how."

Syna gave the man a cutting look before nodding faintly and looking away. "Come. I vill lead you to the Great Hall. You vill both be sitting vith me at the Head Table, of course." She said as she motioned them to follow her.

Doo brought up the rear, giving the cousins time to catch up, and looked around curiously. The building looked to be made completely out of stone. Suits of armour were placed against the wall at regular intervals, and Doo could have sworn they were watching him. Hung from the stones were tapestries and pictures with moving people in them. One knight waved at him vigorously, causing him to loose his balance and land on his bum on the ground. Doo smothered his laughter at the unfortunate knight's predicament. He didn't think it would be polite to laugh.

The school felt like home, to Doo. It was the place he'd always longed to return to deep within his heart, even if he couldn't remember it.

* * *

The Dark Lord Voldemort frowned as the wizard to his left, the current Headmaster, blabbed on about how everything was fine and he shouldn't have bothered coming. _'Like Severus would make something up.'_ The Dark Lord snorted mentally. _'He has no imagination to make such things up.'_

He glanced up at the teacher's entrance as it opened and admitted three people. The first two he knew: Syna Krum, Deputy Headmistress, his second, and Professor of Charms; and Deva Vladislav, Syna's cousin who owned a small flower arranging shop in a Muggle town near the school. The last figure was the one that caught the Dark Lord's eye, though, even as he nodded his head in return to the two witches' bows.

The third figure was a tall man with hair whiter than Lucius' and eyes the colour of a fresh clover. He was looking around the Great Hall with a look of awe on his face, eyes shining brightly. He wore Muggle clothing that would have looked plain on most people, but only seemed to enhance his faintly feminine form. The Dark Lord realized he was staring when Syna waved her hand in front of his face. "What?" He snapped.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, not put off by his tone in the least. "I didn't expect to see you here, Lord. Vot are you here for?"

The Dark Lord scowled. "Severus called me." He replied shortly. "Your cousin has brought a Muggle with her."

Syna shook her head faintly. "Forgotten, actually."

Red eyes widened slightly and he leaned forward to take a closer look at the green-eyed man, who was allowing Deva to pile his plate with food with a faint smile. "You can tell?"

"Deva says he remembers things, Lord. He heard my last name and asked vo Viktor Krum was."

The Dark Lord gave the witch next to him a sharp look. "A Forgotten who remembers?"

"Not exactly." Syna shook her head. "Deva says that he remembers things for a brief moment, then forgets them again."

"A flickering memory?" The Dark Lord frowned. "The spell should not be acting like that."

Syna shrugged. "I haff no idea vat it is. You might get to know him better and maybe you can find out."

The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed and his voice came out as a growl. "You will stop trying to find me a life companion or I _will_ kill you."

Syna waved a hand at him idly. "I'm only suggesting you make polite conversation, my Lord. He's a pleasant man. Deva tells me he ovns a candy shop a fev doors down from her ovn." She shot him a sly smile as he picked up his cup and took a sip. "And he's gorgeous."

The Dark Lord almost choked on his pumpkin juice. "Syna." He hissed furiously. "You try my patience."

"You haff no patience, Lord." The witch pointed out lightly. "I think Deva and I shall take a trip dovn to Hogsmeade after breakfast. Vould you entertain Doo for us?"

"Doo?" He frowned for a brief moment before realization hit him. "Deva's friend?"

"Yes. Dooley Tarrant." Syna agreed.

The Dark Lord shook his head furiously. "No. I have other business to concern myself with."

"Vich you really don't vant to do." The witch replied in a cool tone. "Shov him around a bit. Maybe he likes Quidditch. You can fly vith him."

The Dark Lord just let out an annoyed sound and attacked his eggs.

* * *

"Syna and I are going down to Hogsmeade." Deva said as she stood with her cousin. "Vy don't you entertain yourself?"

"I don't know anyone here, Deva." Doo hissed.

Syna smiled brightly and cocked her thumb at the man she'd been talking with during breakfast, who shot her a dirty look. "This is L-"

"Tom." The man cut in sharply, red eyes flashing. "Tom Marvolo."

Syna blinked at the Dark Lord in confusion. "…Right. Doo, this is Tom. He visits the school occasionally. Tom, this is Dooley Tarrant. Doo, Tom says he vill shov you around vile ve are gone."

Doo inclined his head to the man ever so slightly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tom." He said in a soft voice.

Tom blinked a few times at the politeness of the Forgotten man. "The pleasure is all mine, Dooley."

Doo shook his head faintly, smiling. "Please, call me Doo." He stood and nodded to the two witches who were watching on with traces of apprehension. "Weren't you two leaving?" He asked with a wicked smile.

Deva swatted his arm. "I've already been varned about you, Doo. Nick vouldn't haff introduced us if I vasn't prepared." She turned to Tom, who was standing, as Doo laughed. "You vill like him. He is just like you."

Tom cocked an eyebrow at the woman. "And he also has a good point. Will it help if I promise not to eat him?"

"Not really, but ve shall leave you vith him anyvay." Syna sighed.

"Doo can take care of himself, I'm sure." Deva replied before dragging Syna away with a wave.

Doo gave his companion a quick look-over while the red-eyed man gazed around the Great Hall sharply, as if checking that all was well. _'Black hair, red eyes, and skin that's pale as a skull's. Why do I feel that I know him?'_

Tom glanced at Doo once he was sure he could leave the Great Hall in the not-so-capable hands of the staff of Hogwarts. The green-eyed man was frowning faintly. "What is it?"

Doo blinked at Tom and shrugged. "A feeling, that's all."

"What sort of feeling?" The Dark Lord inquired curiously as he motioned for Doo to walk with him.

Doo sighed. "I feel like I know you from somewhere…"

"Wouldn't surprise me." Tom offered. Doo's eyes widened marginally, asking a question silently. "I played a fairly big part in the Final Battle. If you were there, you probably would have known me." The Dark Lord replied, ignoring his mind as it pointed out that he didn't play just a "fairly big" part in that battle.

Doo nodded. "We lost, didn't we?" He asked softly. "My side, I mean. That's why our memories are gone."

Tom kept his gaze focused directly in front of him. "Yes." He replied evenly. "It was a punishment."

"It was a way to keep us from fighting back." Doo clarified in a calm voice. Tom glanced over at him in surprise and Doo smiled. "The past is over and done with. I can understand why we'd be neutralized in such a way, since our reproduction will continue to populate the world with magic and I suppose that's needed, yes?"

Tom nodded. "Yes. We need the wizards and witches. To kill the opposition very well could have killed us all off."

Doo smiled. "It was a good choice, then. Kudos to whoever made it."

The Dark Lord forced his emotions away at those words. He'd only ever been cursed, in the past, for that choice. His own men had called him weak for letting the Light witches and wizards live. "I'll be sure to tell him when I return to the castle." Was his emotionless response to his companion.

"Is there anything to do around here?" Doo inquired humourously, seeming to sense the need to change the topic.

"A few things." Tom shrugged. "I'm usually here on business, really-"

"When did you go to Hogwarts?" Doo asked rather suddenly, then blushed once he realized he'd interrupted the other. "Sorry!"

Tom offered him a small smile. "A very long time ago." He replied cryptically. "Come on. We'll go out to the Pitch."

"The Pitch?" Doo blinked a few times.

"Yes. The Quidditch Pitch." The Dark Lord agreed.

"_They're burning the Quidditch Pitch, damnit! We need that Pitch for our game against Slytherin tomorrow!"_ A voice shouted in Doo's mind. He stopped walking, shaking his head to clear it.

Tom also stopped. "What's wrong?"

Doo glanced up at the red-eyed man. "It was…burned…in the war?" He asked.

Tom's eyes widened. "You _do_ remember things through the spell. Amazing."

Doo shook his head again and sighed. "I've lost it again. Damnit."

The Dark Lord frowned. "I wonder why the spell is acting like that. Perhaps you were a strong wizard...?" He murmured thoughtfully. "But, I wasn't aware there was a wizard powerful enough to negate even that much of Voldemort's spell..."

"_Would you stop saying his name! I hate it when you do that! Call him You-Know-Who!"_

"You-Know-Who?" Doo muttered, frowning.

Tom looked at the younger man curiously. "Yes, that's what they used to call him. They'd flinch if they heard his name."

"Scared of a name?" Doo rolled his eyes. "Idiots."

The Dark Lord smiled coldly. "Of course they were."

"It's why you won, I'm sure." Doo replied, grinning when Tom gave him a startled look. "What, it _is_ what you were thinking, right?"

Tom smiled wryly. "You are a mystery, Mr Tarrant."

"Oh? Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" The white-haired man shot back playfully, earning him a soft chuckle. "I thought you were going to take me to the Pitch."

The Dark Lord laid and arm across Doo's shoulders. "So I was. Come along, then." He said in a light voice. _'Deva's right. I **do** like him. Damn those cousins.'_

* * *

The owl found Tom and Doo sweeping past one another on brooms over the Pitch. Tom hadn't been surprised that Doo was still able to fly. He'd never heard of a Forgotten who had forgotten how to fly or how to walk around. The memories were blocked in a way to allow them to function, but not remember how they knew such things. In that way, it was more advanced than a simple _Obliviate_.

When the golden brown owl flew over to him, Tom scowled and paused his flight, reaching out to catch the owl gently and relieve it of its letter. As Doo flew over to him, Tom popped the letter open, squinting to read it without his glasses.

_We know you're probably dying to get away from Hogwarts, even if you haven't been in any meetings today, so why don't you come on down to the Three Broomsticks with Doo? We'll grab a lunch together and maybe visit the shops!  
__- Syna Krum  
__Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
__Second In Command of the Dark Order_

Doo blinked at the letter over Tom's shoulder. "She's Voldemort's second?"

The Dark Lord nodded wearily and tucked the letter into a pocket. "Yes. She's here as Deputy in hopes that she can wield _some_ control over our future. It never seems to work, of course, which is why I'm here. Again."

"One person can't handle everything." Doo replied.

"Very true." The Dark Lord had to agree. "Shall we meet them for lunch, then?"

"Sure." Doo grinned. "Though we may want to find a way out of that shopping trip."

"Oh, I don't know." Tom replied evilly. "You look like you could use some robes."

Doo laughed as they descended.

_

* * *

_

_¤They look like they're getting along.¤_ Deva murmured to Syna as the two witches watched the Dark Lord and Doo pick out robes for the Forgotten.

_¤Much better than I expected, yes.¤_ Syna agreed. _¤Do you know where 'Tom Marvolo' came from?¤_

Deva blinked a few times, then shook her head. _¤No. I figured you might know.¤_ The woman shrugged. _¤Perhaps it's the name of someone he knew once?¤_

_¤Perhaps...¤_

Tom shook his head with an amused look as he noticed that the two Bulgarians were whispering in their native language. "They're talking about us, I think." He whispered to his companion.

Doo cocked an eyebrow at the Dark Lord. "Can you tell what they're saying?"

"If I could hear them." Tom nodded. "But I can only read lips in English."

"Figures." Doo rolled his eyes. "Slytherins."

Tom laughed. "Don't you _dare_ hold my House against me, Mr Tarrant."

Green eyes glittered with a smile. "Hardly. The House doesn't make the person." He scratched his head, smile fading suddenly. "I wonder what House _I_ was in?"

Tom shrugged. "From what I know of you now, you were probably a Slytherin."

Doo shook his head thoughtfully. "No. I was in another House, I know that."

"Ravenclaw?"

"No."

"Well, you're no Hufflepuff..." The Dark Lord shrugged. "So you must have been a Gryffindor." He scrunched his nose up at that.

Doo laughed. "What's so bad about Gryffindor?"

Tom offered the white-haired man a thin smile. "Slytherins and Gryffindors have _never_ gotten along."

The Forgotten rolled his eyes. "First time for everything, Tom."

"Well, yes, I suppose so..." Tom agreed faintly.

"Here," Doo held up a neon orange robe. "What do you think?"

The Dark Lord stared at Doo for a few moments in horror. "You're kidding." He said finally.

Doo grinned. "Of course I am, idiot."

Tom laughed at that. "Gryffindor, indeed!" He reached over and tugged on the Forgotten's ponytail. "Put it back and try those other ones on."

Doo put the orange robe back on the shelf and started for the changing rooms with the dark-haired man. "Do you have any Muggle clothing, Tom?"

The Dark Lord looked over at Doo in surprise. "Somewhere. Why?"

Doo shrugged. "You _did_ say you hated these meetings. Why don't you come by my shop tomorrow?"

Tom blinked a few times. "Maybe I will. Syna says you work a few doors down from Deva's flower shop?"

"Yeah." Doo smiled. "It's called 'Sherbet Lemon'." Tom froze, eyes widening with shock. "Tom?" Doo asked in concern, pausing his steps.

The Dark Lord shook his head sharply. "I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose."

"What?"

Tom offered the white-haired man a small smile. "Sherbet lemons were the favourite treat of one of the two men who led your side."

"Oh..." Doo scratched the back of his head. "What was his name?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"-_Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."_ A voice echoed in Doo's mind. He nodded faintly.

"You've remembered something." Tom murmured softly.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." Doo replied.

The Dark Lord sighed. "That's him, yes."

"You didn't like him." The Forgotten deducted.

"It's that obvious?" Tom replied wryly. "No, we never saw eye-to-eye, Albus and I."

Doo smiled. "It happens to the best of us." He offered before turning and heading for the changing rooms again.

Tom snorted. "To the best and the worst of us."

"My Lord?" Syna murmured, coming to stand next to Tom with her cousin. "Are you vell?"

The Dark Lord glanced over at the two witches. "I have been invited to visit Mr Tarrant tomorrow. What do you think?"

Syna and Deva traded looks. "I think it's a vonderful idea, Lord." Deva offered. "You can get avay from vork."

Tom grimaced, an action which seemed to surprise the cousins. "True."

"My Lord, if you don't mind my asking, vo vas Tom Marvolo?" Syna asked cautiously.

The Dark Lord's lips curled up into a cold smirk. "Look it up." Was his only response.

* * *

"Did you haff a good time?" Deva inquired when they paused outside Doo's shop's door.

"Yes." Doo smiled. "Thank you for taking me, Deva."

Deva shrugged. "Any time." She offered a sad smile to the Forgotten. "And Tom needs a good friend vo sees him as a regular person, not as someone vo can do everything."

Doo sighed. "Yes."

Deva nodded. "Haff fun vith him tomorrov. You can alvays send Nick to me if you vant to close shop early and need an excuse to get rid of him." Her eyes glittered with mischief.

Doo chuckled. "Oh, off with you, demoness."

Deva smiled and waved before turning and walking down the sidewalk to her flat. _'They are good for one another.'_

* * *

Doo settled himself in his favourite chair before the fire with a glass of red wine. His eyes danced with the flames he stared at as he thought about the day.

'_Tom Marvolo... There's something significant about that name, but I don't know what. It's tugging on my mind, but...'_ Doo sighed helplessly. _'I like him. He's fun to be around. More fun than Zack ever was...'_ Doo startled at that thought. _'Zack... I spent the whole day without even **thinking** his name... And... It doesn't hurt anymore...'_

The white-haired man stared at the wine he'd grabbed, in case he needed another long cry, for a long moment before toasting the air. "Good-bye, Zack Palmer. It's time to move on." He finished the glass, stood, and headed for the kitchen, to put the glass away.

**

* * *

**

* * *

**A/N:** Figured out the pairing yet? -smirks-

Abandon will be updated on Weds. This will be updated again on _Fri_, **_UNLESS_** Salir is finished being written, in which case, that'll go up instead. I make no guarentees, though. I have a novella due in Creative Writing on Fri and I've barely started. The novella's got priority, just so you know.

-

**_REVIEWS:_** I was actually kinda amazed at the response for this fic. I shouldn't be, I suppose, since Abandon's so popular these days and people seem to like my writing(WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!)... -sweatdrop-  
_So, thanks to_ emeralddragon8, scap3goat, vampsarecool, eaivalefay, mneiai, sdrana, tinkerpiky, cloe, sighgirl15, firebird157, elfgirljen, _and_ magickmaker17 _for reviewing at LJ_ _and also thanks to_ Emerald-silver Serpent, 1234567890, deadfeather, chekiita, Dark-Faerie161, tessa3, j752572, elvengoddess696, roisegirl, NatalieJ, maleficus-lupus, lotrox, Maethoriell, Bellz, pazed, heyy13, Linker27, dogmoon183, antares520, Laura, gecko, twighlightshadow, iamtherealmaverick, A-Brighter-Dawn, fudgebaby, japanese-jew, Aerieth, me, XanDutch, Child-of-the-Waves, Arionne Nashi, _and_ Firehedgehog _for reviewing at FFN!_

**1234567890:** Abandon will be updated as often as always. Don't you worry about that, m'dear.  
-grins- You think the names are confusing! You're not _writing_ it! I have no clue how many times I've tried to write "Harry" instead of "Doo"!

**deadfeather:** All questions will be answered in time. -Dumbledore impression-  
I've never been fond of OCs, myself, but I need them for this, else I won't have any characters to use. If it makes you feel any better, they won't become Mary-Sues or Stus.

**Dark-Faerie161:** -chuckles- Thank you. And, yes! Of course you may be my friend!

**roisegirl:** Yes, yes. You may call me "Bats". -chuckles- Glad you're enjoying.

**Laura:** All those good questions! Of course, as the fic will slowly start answering them all, I'll just let you wait and find out, k?

**XanDutch:** -chuckles- Yes, I thought giving Voldie glasses would be an amusing change. Glad you like it.(There's nothing really special about it, though. I just felt like giving him glasses.)

**Child-of-the-Waves:** I took the accent from book 4, actually.  
-smiles- Your questions will be answered in the fic, so I'll just let you wait to find out.

**Arionne Nashi:** Just your imagination running wild. The "Lord" in the prologue is, indeed, Voldie. However, I did write that bit to make it seem kinda... confusing, I guess… -sweatdrop-

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Batsutousai


	3. Two: Nicholas Wants Answers

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** I'm gonna be evile and not tell you. -cackles-  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** So, this pirate walks into a bar and he's got the steering wheel of a ship in his pants. The barman turns to him and says, "Why have you got a steering wheel in your pants?" and the pirate replies, "ARGH! It's driving me nuts!"

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_"Doo's memory flashes"_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤_

**A/N:** The title of this chapter is corny, but I couldn't think of anything else. Sorry... -sweatdrop-

* * *

Chapter Two  
Nicholas Wants Answers

* * *

"How can I help you?" Nick inquired of the man who had just stepped into the shop. The man's black hair fell in his eyes, which were a soft green. He wore a green silk button-up shirt and khakis.

"Uhm, yes." The man glanced around curiously for a quick moment before looking back at Nick, who was smiling. "Is Doo here?"

A head of white hair popped out of the office door. "Oh, Tom! You're early." Doo grinned, stepping out into the shop.

"I wasn't aware we'd set a specific time for me to come by..." The Dark Lord said carefully, warily eyeing the dark-eyed man that had greeted him and was now staring at him suspiciously.

"Well, we didn't, but I thought you might want to actually eat a full breakfast at the scho- Oh, for crying out loud, Nick!" Doo said with an annoyed tone.

Nick turned to his friend. "Yo."

Doo rolled his eyes. "Nick, this is Tom Marvolo. Tom, this is Nicholas Ripley, who works for me." The pale-haired man introduced before giving Nick a sharp look. "Tom's a friend. Now cut it."

"I'm allowed to worry about you." Nick grumbled. "You break up with Zack, then disappear for a day. Excuse me for being suspicious."

Doo let out a helpless sigh and smiled at Tom, who was frowning. "What's that look for?"

"You didn't tell me you'd just broken up with someone." The Dark Lord said darkly.

Doo groaned. "I'm _sorry_. I just didn't think about it yesterday." He smacked the back of Nick's head lightly. "Idiot. Watch the shop. Come on back, Tom. I'll get you some tea." He offered, holding the swinging door attached to the counter open for the wizard.

Tom blinked a few times before smirking suddenly. "Have any sherbet lemons to go with that tea?"

Doo made a face. "You know, it's no fair when you make a joke that I should get but don't."

Tom tugged on Doo's ponytail lightly as he joined him behind the counter. "I'll tell you the story over tea, k?"

Nick poked Doo's shoulder. "He's a friend from your past life?" He inquired when the shop's owner turned to him.

"I wouldn't say _friend_, really." Tom offered coldly. "But we get along now."

Doo shrugged. "Something like that. Shout if you need me."

"Yes, mother." Nick groaned.

Doo flipped him the birdie before leading Tom up to the kitchen of his flat. "What sort of tea would you like?"

"Something with caffeine, I guess." Tom muttered, looking around curiously. There wasn't much clutter, but there weren't any real decorations either. The kitchen was small and painted white with beech wood cabinets. There weren't any dirty dishes laying about anywhere. The living-room/dining-room held two plush chairs, which were seated in front of the fire, and a loveseat, which sat along one wall with a glass coffee table in front of it. A single picture frame was hung on the wall opposite the loveseat. Doo and another man with sandy-coloured hair were smiling in it, arms around one another.

"My ex-boyfriend." Doo offered as he held a teacup out to the Dark Lord, having noticed where he was looking. "I don't have the heart to take the picture down, I'm afraid."

"You were close?" Tom inquired, allowing his friend to lead him over to the loveseat.

"Yes." Doo sighed, setting his cup on the coffee table. "We met in the hospital after the war..." The pale-haired man explained. "He helped me pick a new name and start a life, but there were some things we just never saw eye-to-eye on. We broke up on Friday. He's in London, now."

"You miss him." Tom deduced.

"To a certain extent, I do." Doo agreed, then turned and smiled at the Dark Lord. "Yesterday helped, actually. I really _didn't_ think about him all day."

Tom smiled faintly. "Glad to be of service."

Doo laughed at that, bringing a bright smile to the Dark Lord's face. "Thank you."

"Of course."

The two sat in silence for a long while, just sipping their tea. Doo broke the quiet by asking, "How'd you change your eyes?"

Tom grimaced and set his tea down. "Glamour. I can't very well walk around in the Muggle world with red eyes."

"You could." Doo disagreed calmly, earning him a startled look. "What? You could. Just say they're contact lenses or something. No one will think it odd."

The Dark Lord smiled thinly. "Muggles do strange things." He decided aloud before sighing. "Anyway, the people of the wizarding community will recognize me with red eyes."

"Ah." Doo nodded. "In that case, keep them green." He took a sip of tea. "What's a Glamour, by the way?"

Tom grimaced. "I keep forgetting you don't remember things." He ran his hand through his hair. "It's a spell that sets a new image over what you look like. It doesn't actually change my eye colour, just places a new colour over it."

Doo cocked his head to one side thoughtfully. "Interesting. You could hide scars with it?"

"You can hide or change the colour of anything, but there is a counter-spell that can be cast to get rid of it, of course." Tom replied calmly before shooting Doo a sharp look. "You have scars you want to hide?"

Doo shrugged nervously. "I have scars from the war, yeah."

"We all do." Was the emotionless response. "Not all of them are pretty, and some are more than just skin-deep, but they are there and we must learn to live with them." Tom gave the startled Doo a firm look. "Hiding them doesn't make them go away, Doo."

"I know." Doo took a long sip of his tea. "Have you learned to live with yours yet?" He inquired of his tea cup.

"Yes." The Dark Lord shrugged. "I suppose it's easier when you know why you have them, of course."

"Probably." Doo agreed.

Another silence fell over the two, this time broken by Tom. "I was going to explain my little joke, wasn't I?"

Doo glanced up. "Oh, yes, that's right." He grinned. "So, Tom, what's so funny about sherbet lemons and tea?"

Tom grimaced. "I told you they were Dumbledore's favourite, yes?" Doo nodded. "Well, he liked to offer them to people out of the blue. When someone came to his office, he'd offer them two things: sherbet lemons and tea." The Dark Lord explained in an annoyed voice. "I swear he laced the damn stuff with a Calming Draught so people didn't freak out if he told them something they didn't want to hear." Doo laughed as Tom continued. "Of course, an overdose of Calming Draught would have explained why he was so strange, now that I think about it..."

Doo buried his face in his hands, laughing helplessly.

Tom grinned at the younger man. "Is it really that funny?"

Doo shook his head, glancing up at Tom, once he got his laughter under control. "No, not really." He offered with a smile. "It was just the way you explained it."

Tom chuckled. "Should I audition to become a stand-up comedian, then?"

Doo snorted. "No offence, Tom, but, don't give up your day job."

Before Tom could reply, Nick poked his head in. "Tarrant, you need to come down here."

Doo stood, gaze turning serious. "What is it?"

"Mz Riddock's asking for you. I think Renny stole something again." Nick explained.

Doo let out a groan and glanced back at Tom, who was smiling faintly. "I'm sorry, Tom, but I need to take care of this. You can wait up here, if you'd like."

"I'll come down with you, I think." Tom decided, standing.

Doo nodded and led the way back down to the shop where a woman with bushy brown hair stood with a cold look on her face. "Good morning, Hertha." Doo greeted the woman with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

Tom's eyes widened as Hertha began to speak. _'Hermione Granger!'_

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Dooley, but Renny had _this_," she held up a handful of bills, "hidden under his pillow. I'm trying to find out if anyone is missing any money."

Doo frowned thoughtfully. "Well, my count's been fine for a while now..." He glanced over at Nick. "Nicholas, do you know if any of the other shops have reported missing money?"

Nick shook his head. "None that I know of."

Doo nodded and gave Hertha a helpless look. "I'm sorry I can't help you any, Hertha. If I hear anything, I'll be sure to let you know."

Hertha nodded with a sigh. "Very well. Thank you, Dooley. And you, Nicholas."

"Of course, Mz Riddock." Nick replied with a smile.

Doo rested his hand on Nick's shoulder for a brief moment before turning back to Tom. "Tom? What's wrong?"

Tom shook his head sharply. "That woman. I know her."

Doo frowned. "Hertha?"

Tom nodded. "She's a Forgotten. Her real name's Hermione Granger."

"_Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our set books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"_ Said a voice in Doo's mind that sounded like a younger version of Hertha.

"You've remembered something again." Tom murmured, setting a hand on Doo's shoulder. Nick watched them with a strange look on his face.

Doo nodded. "Yes. I-I knew her in school. She was...Muggle-born? And an overachiever?"

Tom nodded slowly. "Brightest student in the school, as I recall."

Doo smiled rather suddenly. "Can I keep you?"

Tom's eyes widened. "Wh-what!"

"Can I keep you? You're dead useful when I'm sorting memories out." Doo repeated.

Tom rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Shut up."

Doo laughed. "Well, since we're down here..." He turned to Nick. "Take a break, Nick. I'll watch the front."

"What you got in your fridge, Doo?" Nick inquired, pulling off his smock.

Doo rolled his eyes while Tom grinned. "Nick, you need to eat at _home_, not my place." Nick offered him a pitiful look and Doo made a great show of twitching. "Oh, go on, then. There are some hard-boiled eggs in the carton on top. Don't eat them all this time."

"Sure thing, boss-man!" Nick replied with a salute before he ran up the stairs to the flat.

"Nah, you'd never make a good Slytherin." Tom decided.

"Oh?"

"You're too nice."

Doo rolled his eyes and chucked a smock at the Dark Lord. "Put that on and pretend you work here."

"Do I have to?" Tom mock whined, pulling on the smock.

"No." Doo replied, smirking. "But if you help me out, I promise not to lock you in my office."

"I have ways to get out." Tom pointed out with a high-and-mighty voice.

"So I'll take your wand and hide it." The white-haired man shot back. "_Then_ you'll _never_ get out."

Tom shook his finger in Doo's face. "No one takes _my_ wand, Mr Tarrant."

"Really?" Doo reached over and tugged the stick that he'd seen earlier out of Tom's back pocket. "And what's this?" He held up the wand with a smirk.

"Oh. You were talking about _that_ wand." Tom sighed.

Doo stared at him for a moment before laughing hysterically. "You're _horrible_!"

The Dark Lord pulled his yew wand from the green-eyed man's grasp with a wink. "I know."

Doo just laughed.

* * *

Nick had known Doo for eight years, and, as he listened to his friend's laughter, he realized that he'd never heard Doo laugh quite that freely before. Even with Zack, Doo was restrained. Nick had always thought it was because, on some level, Doo believed he was in danger from something, and that anyone he got too close to would also be in danger.

'_This Tom Marvolo is a person Doo feels safe around, feels can take care of himself, I guess. But, can he help Doo...?'_ Nick sighed and popped the egg he'd just peeled into his mouth. _'He cares about Doo, that's obvious. I'm not quite sure Mr Marvolo's realized it yet, but he **does** care for Doo. And Doo likes Marvolo being around, that's kinda obvious too. They look good together, and they get along well... I suppose that's good. But...I think I need to ask Deva about Marvolo. I get a creepy feeling around him...'_

With that decision, Nick put the egg carton back in the fridge and slipped back downstairs. "Hey, boss-man, can I go over to the flower shop?"

Doo smiled. "Of course. Tell Deva hello for me."

"And me, I suppose." Tom added in calmly.

"Of course." Nick nodded and vaulted over the counter.

"What have I told you about jumping over my counters?" Doo grumbled.

Nick grinned. "Not to." He offered before leaving to Tom's laughter. He wandered down the row until he got to the flower shop, then he stepped in with a smile. "Deva, I come with questions."

Deva glanced up. "Oh, hello, Nick. Vat questions haff you for me?"

Nick sat himself backwards on a chair next to where Deva was working with a small rose bush. "Tell me about Tom Marvolo."

Deva dropped the clippers she'd been using in shock. "T-Tom?"

Nick frowned. "Yeah."

The Bulgarian nibbled on her lower lip nervously for a moment before making a choice. She stood and walked over to the door, which she locked. Then she turned around the sign that said whether she was open or not. Once done, she glanced back at Nick, who was frowning at her thoughtfully. "Come to the back." She ordered, heading towards her back room.

Nick followed her quietly and sat in the chair she motioned to. "Why the secrecy?"

Deva sat with a heavy sigh. "Vat I am going to tell you is not something I should tell you." She warned him seriously. "But I think it is something you deserve to knov."

Nick nodded. "This is about Marvolo?"

"This is about many people." Deva replied. "Let me start from the beginning." Nick nodded. "First off, I am a vitch."

Nick frowned. "A witch?" Deva nodded, biting her lower lip nervously. "Like, you can do magic?" The woman nodded again. Nick took a deep breath. "Okay. I can go with that. I mean, it explains some things, right? That's good..."

Deva smiled slightly. "A little over thirty years ago, there vas an evil vizard vo vas trying to take over the vorld. The vole vorld, mind you, not just the magical one. His name vas Lord Voldemort, and people feared him, vith good reason."

"How come he never took over the world?" Nick inquired.

"I am getting there." The witch replied calmly. Nick offered her an apologetic look and she smiled. "Voldemort was stopped ven a Killing Curse he'd cast rebounded back on him. He became no more than a spirit. The baby he'd meant to kill vas named Harry Potter and he became famous.

"After many years, Voldemort came back for revenge, and to take over the vorld like he'd planned at first."

"Did he fail?" Nick asked, his voice holding a pleading tone to it.

"Yes, and no." Deva replied. "There was a big battle about ten years ago that ve call the Final Battle. In this battle, Voldemort fought vith Harry Potter, to the death. Potter died, and Voldemort cast a spell on all of the opposition on the field that vould make them forget everything. Ve call these people the Forgotten."

"Doo. Doo's a wizard, isn't he?" Nick whispered, eyes wide. "And Hertha Riddock? Marvolo said she was once named Hermione Granger."

Deva blinked a few times in surprise. "I vill trust his vord on that. He vould knov vat she looks like."

"He knew her?"

"He knev everything about the Light. It vas his job."

"What part did he play in this war?" Nick asked with a frown.

"Vill you promise not to run out of here and do something foolish?" Deva said by way of response.

Nick's frown darkened. "Yes." He growled.

Deva nodded. "Tom Marvolo is Lord Voldemort." The witch replied calmly.

Nick twitched. "He doesn't act like a man who wants to take over the world."

"He has given up on the Muggle vorld. Your vorld. He is fine vith controlling the vizarding vorld right nov."

Nick sighed and nodded. "Was Hermione Granger important?"

"Vat makes you think that?"

"The way you spoke of her." Nick said dryly.

Deva smiled grimly. "Hermy-ovn Granger vas the tactical person for the Light, and she vas Potter's best friend. She vas a dangerous person. Killed many of our people before Voldemort killed Potter and cast the spell."

Nick nodded absent-mindedly. "Voldemort and Doo are getting close. Is there a reason why you put them together?"

"Vat makes you think I had any part in their friendship?" Deva inquired innocently.

"Deva." Nick growled.

Deva smiled. "Voldemort is a very lonely man. My cousin and I haff been trying to find him a friend or maybe even a life companion for many years. He needs someone to see him as a person and not a ruler. Doo, I can see, also needs someone to lean on, and vy not the man vo hid his memories in the first place? Voldemort can help vith Doo's flashbacks in vays both you and I cannot. Doo can see Voldemort as a real man because he knovs not vo he is, nor, I think, vould he care if he did."

"No, he wouldn't." Nick shook his head. "How complicated. Do you think Voldemort will take the block from Doo?"

"It is a possibility, yes."

"But not a very big one?"

"No." Deva shrugged. "They haff knovn each other for one day, Nick, and they are already the best of friends. Do not ruin this, please?"

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "On one condition."

"Vat?" Deva asked suspiciously.

Nick smiled. "Will you go out with me this weekend?"

The witch's eyes widened in surprise. "I- Yes! Yes, of course I vill!"

Nick nodded. "Then I shall play along and pretend Marvolo's just another guy Doo dragged in with his charm." He stood with a wink. "You gonna let me out now?"

Deva stood. "Also, you must not let anyone knov you knov of our people. Especially not Voldemort. He may like Doo, but he vill not pause in killing a Muggle that knovs our secrets." She said seriously.

"I understand." He replied seriously.

Deva nodded and lead him out.

* * *

"I got a date with Deva!" Nick called as soon as he stepped back into the shop.

Tom stared at him in shock while Doo smirked. "I've been telling you for months to ask her out, you idiot. Why ask her so suddenly?"

"It was those eggs I ate." Nick replied in a low, secretive voice.

"Best take them home, then." Doo shot back. "You might need them for your date."

"Tarrant, you're one hell of a fucking bastard. Get out of my store." Nick ordered, pointing at the door outside. "In fact, you're _fired_."

Doo's eyes went wide and he grasped at his chest. "No, please, no." He whispered in a horrified voice. "Anything but _that_ Master Ripley. Anything! I beg you!" He fell to his knees behind the counter, disappearing from view.

Nick poked his head over the edge of the counter and grinned down at his boss. "You really should have taken up acting, Doo."

"So you keep saying." Doo agreed, pulling himself to his feet.

Tom clapped for them with a smile. "Bravo, gentlemen. Bravo."

Both Nick and Doo bowed formally before grinning. "You should see when we have kids in here." Doo said.

"I can hardly wait." Tom replied dryly.

"Don't like kids?" Nick inquired, vaulting over the counter. He ignored the scowl Doo shot at him, focusing, instead, on the Dark Lord.

Tom sighed. "No, not really. I mean, I used to watch the younger kids all the time at the orphanage."

Doo picked up on that tidbit of information. "Orphanage?"

The Dark Lord gave both of the men who worked at the shop an odd look before nodding. "Yes. I grew up in an orphanage."

Nick's eyes widened while Doo frowned. "Why didn't you live with your parents?"

Tom's eyes narrowed, not at Doo, but at the past. "My father didn't want me, my mother was dead."

Doo scowled. "Then your father was a jackass. I hope he's dead." He said coldly.

Tom cocked his head to one side calmly, studying the furious Forgotten before him and his friend, who looked like he'd just pieced together a puzzle. "He is." Was all he said. _'No one's ever cared before...'_ Tom thought as Doo nodded once and turned to greet a customer. Nick was getting his smock. _'Why does he care? He doesn't know who I am. He doesn't know what I've done. But...I don't think he really cares, either... How very puzzling...'_

* * *

"My Lord, you've been gone all day." Goyle muttered as Voldemort swept into the Headmaster's office coldly. "I looked for you, but Syna said you'd left this morning."

"And so I did." Voldemort replied before settling himself in an uncomfortable-looking chair. "Tell me, Goyle, why is it that Severus seems to think you have a small rebellion on your hands that you aren't addressing?"

"I-I don't, my Lord."

"You are a bad liar, Goyle."

Goyle took a breath, nervously eyeing the Dark Lord who sat so calmly before him. He hated serving that man. He hated serving that monster. "I am not aware of any rebellion, then, my Lord." He said firmly, shielding the truth from the searching red gaze. He'd keep their secrets if it was the last thing he'd do.

"Then you don't mind if I plan on remaining here for the rest of the week." The Dark Lord declared cheerfully.

Goyle shuddered. A cheerful Voldemort was not a good thing. "Of course not, Lord. You are always welcome in my school."

"Good." Voldemort nodded and stood. "Good evening, Goyle."

"Good evening, my Lord." Goyle agreed. _'And may you rot in Hell!'_

Voldemort swept from the room and nodded at the shadows hiding against the wall. "He is lying. Keep a closer eye on him."

Severus Snape stepped forward, greasy black hair hanging dully in front of his beady eyes. "As you command, my Lord."

Syna stepped forward next to the Potions master. "You will spend more time at Tarrant's shop tomorrow?"

The Dark Lord considered this for a moment before shaking his head. "Have your cousin tell him to expect me on Wednesday, instead. I'll keep an eye on Goyle for tomorrow."

"As you wish, Lord." Both of his loyal servants agreed, bowing.

Voldemort nodded to them before sweeping down the spiral staircase.

* * *

**A/N:** -sniggers- I'm putting the OCs together, 'cause I have nothing better to do. Gomen.

Yes, Sev's loyal to Voldemort. He was Voldemort's man again by the end of the second war. Hope that clears that up(in case anyone was wondering...). -grins-

The Headmaster is the elder Goyle. He's not as stupid as Gregory, but nor is he as brilliant as, say, Hermione.

Speaking of Hermione, do you like that I brought her in? I don't know if I'll ever really flesh out her story any more, so I'll tell you here. She was pregnant during the Final Battle and gave birth to her son after the war was over. She took on the name Hertha Riddock because Hertha sounded right to her, and Riddock means "from the smooth field" and that's the terrain of the area she was from. She and Doo are friends, yes, but they aren't as close as they were back in Hogwarts. I don't think they'll ever be, actually. Hermione works at her son's school as a teacher.  
Also, Herm's son, Renny, will be attending Hogwarts next year, when he turns eleven, so now you know he's a wizard, k? We don't know the father(it's not Ron, so leave me alone.) and "Hertha" never married after the war.

-

**_Thanks to:  
_****_LJ:_** sdrana, scap3goat, vampsarecool, mneiai, elfgirljen, abrighterdawn, slythenigma, emeralddragon8, rkrkxx, eavialefay, orderofchaos, mynona, ladyocean, celestialspy, cloe, _and_ sighgirl  
**_FFN:_** japanese-jew, Linker27, peacockgal17, scap3goat, lotrox, HauntedBykitsunes, Larna Mandrea, Ebony Moonlight, Firehedgehog, dead feather, caliadragon, rosiegirl, Zaria Riddle, chekiita, j752572, REM, PLS, Twin Kats, crazy-tom-lover, iamtherealmaverick, JackyPotter, heyy13 kdalemama, pinksakuya, XanDutch, fudgebaby, _and_ Dark-Faerie161

**scap3goat:** You're just _trying_ to confuse me! Reviewing twice like that. -scowls- So I'm not answering any questions! Humph!  
Actually, the eyesight thing was just to be different. It doesn't really have any special relevance.

**HauntedBykitsunes:** You'll find out what happened to Ron later on, and, as you can see, Herm is here. The more important characters will be youched upon, and, yes, you'll find out more about a few of the other students in Harry's year, but I doubt any of them will be very important to the plot-line.  
I named him Doo because I thought it fit him, yes. He couldn't very well be Harry Potter, it was a life he'd forgotten.  
The hair will be explained in time.

**dead feather:** All very good questions. Even better, they'll be answered slowly over the next four or five chapters, so I won't even bother. -grins-

**rosiegirl:** -hums- I'm not telling. You'll have to keep reading to find out.(Do I remind you of JK? She's so damn good at dodging our questions! It's aggravating!)

**XanDutch:** The school is in session, yes, but since I'm focusing more on the adults(specifically the adults who aren't teachers), you won't be hearing much about the students. As for Doo being overwhelmed? He runs a candy store. I think he'd be okay at breakfast at Hogwarts.  
Gryffindor House still exists, yes. Just because most Gryffindors were Light doesn't mean there couldn't have been any Dark ones. -grins-  
Nope, not Voldie in Harry's body. He'd need the glasses 24/7 if he were in _Harry_'s body. -laughs-

-

Batsutousai


	4. Three: Depression

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** I'm gonna be evile and not tell you. -cackles-  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs, **_SUICIDE ATTEMPT_**  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** This needed a little angst, don't you think? No fic's complete without a little angst.

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_"Doo's memory flashes"_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤_

**A/N:** It's in the warnings, but I shall restate it here, as well: **_SUICIDE ATTEMPT_**

-

Chapter Three  
Depression

-

"You have to leave today?" Doo asked sadly.

"Yes." Tom sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I said that I'd be back _yesterday_, but I stayed overnight so I could say good-bye to you."

Doo grinned. "I'm touched, Tom. I really am."

"Touched in the head." Tom agreed with a smile as he reached up to tug on Doo's ponytail

"Stop that." Doo made a face, swatting at the offending hand lightly. "You know, Voldemort's a bit of a bastard."

"Oh?" The Dark Lord glanced at his friend inquiringly.

"Yeah." Doo nodded firmly. "Making you come home at a certain time and all that. Doesn't he give you _any_ breaks?"

Tom smiled sadly. "There's no rest for the weary, Doo. You really think he's a bastard?"

Doo sighed. "Well, yes, I still think he's a bastard. However," the Forgotten's eyes glinted with amusement. "He's a bastard I'd like to meet, assuming, of course, that he wouldn't hex me on sight for being an enemy."

Tom nodded, realizing that, not long ago, he _would_ have hexed a Forgotten who came to visit him of their own free will on sight, no matter their reasons. "Pity, that."

"What? Me thinking he's still a bastard? Me not coming because I might get hexed? Or me not getting hexed because I won't come?" Doo inquired with a grin.

Tom chuckled. "A little of all of them, I suppose."

Doo laughed. "You are evil!"

"Was there ever any doubt?"

"Well..."

"Don't you dare finish that thought, Mr Tarrant." The Dark Lord ordered darkly.

Doo grinned. "Sir! Yes, sir!"

Tom's smile faded slowly. "Well, I suppose I should go, then..." He turned to Doo's fireplace, which had been connected to the Floo Network for an hour so the Dark Lord could take it home.

Doo suddenly hugged Tom from behind, shocking the man into stillness. "Don't be a stranger, alright? Visit every once in a while, especially if you're stressed and need someone to talk to. It's what friends are for." The pale-haired man whispered.

Tom nodded and reached up to squeeze the hands encircling his chest. "Of course. I'll find some way to bribe Voldemort."

Doo nodded and let go. "Don't you forget it." He said in a stern voice.

Tom grinned and turned around, bowing to his friend. "Of course, Master Tarrant." When he straighten up, he noticed the tears on Doo's face. "Doo? What's wrong?"

But Doo just smiled. "Go on. Don't want to miss your little window of opportunity."

Tom nodded, worried for the Forgotten. "Take care of yourself." He ordered.

"Of course."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Tom turned and tossed a finger-full of Floo Power into the flames from his pocket. As the fire turned green, he stepped in, then called out, "Slytherin Manor" in a clear voice. The last thing he saw before the room spun before him was Doo waving tearfully. _'I swear I'll visit again soon.'_ He told himself, never expecting that he wouldn't keep his promise.

-

Doo managed five weeks without getting overly depressed. But, by the sixth week and no word from Tom, his worry started eating at him. Was his friend okay? Was he tired? Was he overworked? Had he forgotten Doo while busy working for Voldemort?

It didn't help that Deva and Nick were going steady. The two went out every night. Doo saw them off with a smile and a wave and acted like a parent, of sorts, to both of them, reminding them to not stay out too late and to stay in well lit areas. They were happy, and he was glad for that, but it made him feel like a third wheel at times.

He forced himself to talk to Hertha a bit more, determined to get to know another Forgotten. However, she never mentioned her memory loss and Doo wasn't too keen to bring it up. The closest they ever got to the topic was the one time Hertha admitted that she had no clue who Renny's father was. She didn't feel like trying to find out, either, even though she knew there were ways. Doo had let it drop. Mostly, they discussed the children in the neighborhood. Since she was a teacher and he owned the local sweet shop, they saw different sides to the kids and would trade secrets, like favourite sweets and grades.

Doo also found time to visit Hogwarts, now that he knew it was there, and would often drop by on Saturdays or Sundays to play with the students and supply them with treats or talk with Syna about the past. The Deputy Headmistress was very open about the past, but her cousin wasn't. Syna and Doo could also be found trading stories about Deva. Syna always said that Doo had the best dirt on her cousin, since he saw her so often.

If there was one topic Doo never brought up with anyone, though, it was Tom. He just couldn't bring himself to ask about the man. If Tom didn't want him around, than he wouldn't bother, Doo had decided.

-

It was a particularly busy Friday when the package came. Both Doo and Nick were dashing about like madmen, getting candy for children and restocking empty shelves. When the deliveryman had come in with a large box, Doo had just told him to stack it behind the counter, thinking it was another load of candy. He hoped it was the gummy worms, since they were running low, but forgot about the package almost immediately as a four-year-old girl came to him, crying, because her mummy had left her alone in the store.

After a quick word with Nick, Doo picked up the girl and headed out of his shop, making faces at her to get her to laugh. It only took them about five minutes to find the desperate mother. She thanked Doo profusely and he just smiled.

"It's my job, madam."

"Oh, but to have walked so far looking for me! Anita must have been horrible!"

"No, no, she was fine. A perfect little angel." Doo assured the woman.

"I should really pay you for your trouble..." The woman said, pulling out her wallet.

Doo set a gentle hand over her hand, smiling. "It was no trouble, madam, trust me. I love children. It was actually kind of fun." He offered when she looked up at him in shock. "Keep your money, please. I couldn't take it."

The woman lowered her hand, nodding. "I-Of course."

Doo nodded. "Have a good day." He offered to the mother before glancing down at her daughter. "Stay with your mummy and be good, alright, little miss Anita?"

"Yup!" Anita agreed.

"That's my girl." Doo ruffled her hair gently before straightening. He turned back towards his shop with a wave, smiling as Anita called a loud "Good-bye, Candy-man!" after him.

Doo re-entered his shop whistling. The place looked quite a bit emptier than when he'd left and he stepped over to lean against the counter, grinning at Nick. "I see you've gotten rid of most of the little monsters."

"Yeah." Nick sighed heavily. "Oh, I had Deva put that package in your living-room." He nodded to where his girlfriend stood, helping a young boy get some candy that was too high up for him. "It's for you, not the shop."

"Damn." Doo grumbled. "I was hoping it was that order of gummy worms I put in for. We're almost out."

"Appears not. Sorry, Doo-man." Nick offered.

"Ah. Not your problem. I'll call the shop Monday afternoon and make sure they sent it."

"Not today?"

"No. They had to close early today for some strange reason that made no sense to me." Doo shrugged.

Nick nodded. "What are you planning to do tomorrow, Doo?"

Doo ran a hand through his hair, which he hadn't put in a ponytail that morning. "Visiting Syna. She promised to take me shopping in London." He grinned. "It should be amusing."

"Ooh. A date for the gay guy." Nick teased.

"Shut up, you."

Deva laughed as she came over to them. "Hullo, Doo." She offered, giving him a hug.

Doo grinned. "How're your flowers?"

"They are doing lovely, as alvays. I just vish flovers from my home vould keep here. It's just not home vithout them." Deva sighed.

"I'll take your word for it, m'dear." Doo decided before changing the topic. "What are you two planning for tomorrow."

"Oh, don't tell him, Deva." Nick whined immediately as he rang a kid up. "He'll just lecture us again."

Deva smiled at her boyfriend while Doo smirked. "Would I ever do a think like that?" Doo asked in a mildly wounded voice.

"Yes." Nick growled.

"Nick is taking me into Glasgov." Deva said. "Ve are going to see the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum."

"Sounds like it could take a while." Doo commented conversationally.

"We're leaving tonight and staying for the whole weekend." Nick grumbled.

Doo smirked. "Well, since you've heard my lecture before, I'll save you from it this time."

"Oh, sweet mercy." Nick muttered.

"Just stay safe while you're out there." The pale-haired man said seriously. "I don't want Syna on my arse 'cause I wasn't watching her favourite cousin close enough."

"Hey! What about me!" Nick cried as Deva laughed.

Doo cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "Like your parents care what happens to you, my delinquent friend."

"Ouch." Nick winced. "You really hate me, don't you?"

"Only a little bit." Doo replied with a smile. "Well, tell you two what. You need to get going so you're not trying to find the hotel in the dark. I can close shop tonight just fine without Nick. You two can head on out right now."

"You sure?" Nick asked. "What if things pick up again?"

"Nicholas, I managed for two years without your help. I think I can handle one whole night by myself." Doo chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "And it's getting too late for most of the kids, anyway."

"Well... If you say so..." Nick mumbled.

"I say so." Doo replied firmly. "Get out of my shop before I kick you out."

"Aye, aye, boss-man." Nick grimaced and went to hang up his smock.

Deva hugged Doo tightly. "You vill be fine?"

"Yeah." Doo ruffled her hair gently. "Don't you worry that pretty little head about me. Go have a ball."

Deva nodded. "Stay overnight at Hogvarts. You vill like that."

"Yes, mother." Doo replied with a grin.

"Hey, Tarrant, you'd better not be hitting on my girl." Nick said in an ominous voice from behind his boss.

Doo grinned. "Oh, get out of here, the both of you. And have a good time!"

"Bye, Doo. Haff a good weekend!" Deva called as Nick led her from the shop.

Doo spent the rest of the evening ringing customers up and helping them find stuff. After he closed the shop, he realized he needed to finish some paperwork in his office and went in to work. Totally knackered, he went to bed without even giving the package sitting next to his glass table a second thought.

-

The next morning, after getting dressed in his nicest robes and grabbing some tea for himself, he remembered the package and sat down on the floor with it. He blinked a few times at the sender. "Zack? Why would Zack be sending me anything?" He inquired of the empty room before pulling out a pocket knife and attacking the packing tape.

Inside the box was anything and everything he'd ever given Zack. There was also a letter. It was filled with hatred and spite and it's figurative sharp edges cut through the last of Doo's defences against his impending depression.

Taking his pocket knife, Doo slit his wrists, sobbing.

-

-

**A/N:** Yeah, I decided to leave it there. Nice cliffie. -cackles madly-

Sorry this chapter's so short. Of course, it's also rather loaded, so I suppose that makes up for it. -grimaces-

-

**_Thanks to:  
_****_LJ:_** vampsarecool, tinkerpixy, scap3goat, close, rkrkxx, mneiai, emeralddragon8, slythenigma, eaivalefay, orderofchaos, mynona, abrighterdawn, sighgirl15, _and_ celestialspy  
**_FFN:_** Firehedgehog, ailisa d. frieson, rosiegirl, Prongsblacks, crazy-tom-lover, Fiery Pheonix, Dark-Fairie161, Iridescent Twilight, ChePotter, Revange, _and_ das eulchen

**roisegirl:** -chuckles- It's only a few more chapters untill all of those pesky questions are answered, anyway.

**crazy-tom-lover:** -thoughtful look- You know, I don't remember if I ended up killing Ron off or not. -shrugs- Ah, we'll see later. Even if he hasn't been killed off, he'll hardly be any problem, though, since he can't remember a goddamned thing.

**Iridescent Twilight:** Doo is Harry, yes. The reason for his hair colour will be explained in a later chapter. As for why he's not recognized? He doesn't have his scar and everyone thinks he's dead.

**das eulchen:** Neither Sevvie nor Syna wanted to be Headmaster, really. When Voldemort had to decide on a Headmaster, he worked to make it someone who was expendable and easy to control. He didn't want the power to get to the head of whoever was in charge and then have another Albus Dumbledore or Harry Potter to deal with.  
What happened to all the other characters that haven't been brought up yet (the Weasleys, Draco, etc) will be explained in a few more chapters.  
Victor ended up marrying Syna by the end of the war, so, no, Renny couldn't be his son.

-

Batsutousai

(PS - I just realized that I have this bad tendency to end chapters with cliffies right before a week in which I probably won't update... -laughs nervously- If I get lots of reviews, I'll try my best to update this next week, right?)


	5. Four: The Greatest Idiot

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** I'm gonna be evile and not tell you. -cackles-  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs, Suicide attempt  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** Uhm... "Banana" is a fun word. Kinda like "Mississippi"... -sweatdrop-

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing  
"Doo's memory flashes"  
¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤_

**A/N:** Miff. Sorry this took so long to get out. Real Life a bitch when it feels like it, and it had loads of fun nipping me in the arse these past couple of weeks.

-

Chapter Four  
The Greatest Idiot

-

Doo was a very punctual person, Syna had learned. So, when her friend hadn't come through the Floo at the Three Broomsticks at seven, she'd been a little worried. However, when her watch claimed it was seven-thirty, she decided to take matters into her own hands and took the Floo to Doo's flat herself. What she found horrified her beyond words.

Doo lay in a growing pool of blood, white hair dyed red. His eyes were clenched shut in pain and there were tear-streaks down his cheeks. A box of clothing, stuffed animals, and a bouquet of dead roses sat before him. A letter was on the ground next to Doo's pocket knife and both items were soaked in blood.

Syna let her war training kick in and rushed over to Doo's side, pulling out her wand as she went. She knelt next to him and immediately muttered a Healing Charm for each of the two slashes on his arms. Next, she checked to make sure he was still breathing and had a pulse. Both were true, but they were weak, so she didn't even bother with a Cleaning Charm, just picked him up. She touched the ring on one finger to Doo's arm and whispered, "Healing." With a 'pop,' they were gone.

-

The owl found Deva and Nick while they were walking down Wellington Street. Deva caught the bird as a reflex and easily took the letter from it while Nick blocked the odd sight from view. Deva read over the quick message, paling. "Oh, by Merlin..."

Nick frowned. "Deva, what's wrong?"

Deva looked up at Nick tearfully. "It's from Syna. Doo tried to kill himself."

"_WHAT!_" Nick hissed loudly. His eyes widened suddenly as he recalled the package. "Zack. That little shit. I'll kill him."

"No. No killing." Deva tugged on Nick's hand. "Hold my hand. There's one of our pubs just up the street. I'll take you in and ve'll Floo to Hogsmeade. Then ve shall valk up to Hogvarts."

"Right." Nick nodded, eyes cold. _'Zack Palmer, if I ever get my hands on you again, you'll be one **very** dead little fucker.'_ He hissed mentally as he allowed Deva to tug him down the street.

-

Once she'd sent the owl, Syna hurried back to the Hospital Wing where their mediwitch, Dulcie Kenyon, was taking care of Doo. "Hov is he, Dulcie?" She asked as she stepped into the ward.

Dulcie looked up with a sigh. "He'll make it, with the Blood-Replenishing Potion, if he really wants to."

"You don't think he'll vant to." Syna sighed.

"No." Dulcie shook her head. "For Doo to do something like this, it must have been big. It's probably been growing for a long time now and whatever was in that letter was the last straw."

Syna bit her lip sadly and stared down at the pale man in the bed. "Oh, Doo, vat is it you are so depressed about?"

Doo's eyes opened slightly and he glanced over at Syna, but his eyes were dim and foggy, as if he wasn't really there. "Syna?"

The Deputy Headmistress fell to her knees next to the bed and clasped a cold hand in her own. "I'm here, Doo. Nick and Deva are coming."

Doo nodded, eyes closing. "But not Tom. Never Tom." He murmured.

Syna's eyes widened as she realized what had happened. "That fool." She hissed, standing abruptly. "Dulcie, stay with him. I must Floo a very, very stupid man."

"Of course, Syna." Dulcie agreed. "You can use my office, you know."

Syna nodded sharply. "Thank you." She spun and stalked into the matron's office.

-

Voldemort frowned at the door to his office when someone pounded on it. "What do you think you're doing!" Lucius shouted from outside, so Voldemort decided the man would take care of it for him.

Syna's voice floated through the door, surprising the Dark Lord. "Voldemort, if you don't let me in this instant I vill blast these doors dovn! Lucius, don't you _dare_ try and stop me!"

Voldemort got up with a helpless groan. _'What have I done to piss her off this time?'_ He complained, opening the doors. "In." He ordered.

Syna swept past him and glared as he closed the doors. "You are the greatest idiot in all of the vizarding vorld!" Syna screamed once the Dark Lord had turned around to face her.

Voldemort look stricken for half a moment before he narrowed his eyes. "You _dare_ call me such things on _my_ turf, Syna Krum?" He asked in a dangerous voice.

"I seem to recall a young Forgotten by the name of Dooley Tarrant vo you were friends vith, my Lord." Syna replied coldly.

"What of it?" The Dark Lord hissed just as coldly.

"He is dying, my Lord." The witch hissed vindictively. Voldemort's eyes widened in shock. "He slit his vrists, my Lord, and I'd bet my life it is because _you_ haff been _ignoring him_!"

Voldemort looked horrified. "Where is he?" He whispered after a long moment of silence.

"He is in the Hospital Ving at Hogvarts." Syna replied, coolly.

The Dark Lord called his cloak to himself wandlessly and threw it about his shoulders before pulling his office doors open and sweeping out into the hallway, Syna behind him. Lucius stood in the centre of the hallway, staring at them. "I'm leaving for Hogwarts, Lucius. You know the drill. One little fuck up and I'll hang you up from the South Tower by your dick." Voldemort said conversationally before sweeping past the shocked blonde.

Syna smirked.

-

If Dulcie was surprised to see Voldemort stepping out of her office with Syna, she didn't show it. Rather, she bowed to the Dark Lord and went into her office, closing the door behind herself.

"If you fuck up this time, I vill do _far_ vorse than hanging you up by your dick." Syna hissed to the Dark Lord. "I am going to vait for my cousin and her boyfriend on the steps." She warned before heading out of the ward.

Voldemort nodded numbly, then stepped up to the bed and fell to his knees next to it. "Doo. Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I was supposed to be your friend and always be there for you and I wasn't. Syna's right. I _am_ the greatest idiot in the wizarding world..."

"Syna has _such_ a way with words." Doo muttered dryly.

"Doo!" Startled red eyes met cloudy green.

Doo offered a sad smile. "I didn't think you would come." He murmured, closing his eyes. "You are always so busy."

"No, no, no..." The Dark Lord shook his head. "I'm never too busy. I was just stupid. I should have owled you or Flooed you or something..." He rested a hand against Doo's cheek. "I'm such an idiot."

"You're here now." Doo pointed out weakly. "Just as long...as you...don't...lea...ve..."

Voldemort grabbed Doo's hand with his free one and closed his eyes, concentrating. He stretched his magic out to touch the wizard before him and let out a sigh of relief when he realized Doo had just fallen asleep and was fine. He opened his eyes and conjured himself a chair before sitting down again to watch over the man he'd nearly lost.

-

Deva and Nick paused at the bottom of the front steps of the school to gasp in some air as Syna stepped down to them. "Velcome to Hogvarts, Nicholas." She murmured, slipping an amulet around the man's neck. Nick looked up at her in surprise. "It vill let you see Hogvarts as ve do, even if you aren't holding Deva's hand." Nick nodded his thanks.

"Syna, hov is he?" Deva begged.

"Our Lord is vatching over him right nov."

"Why is that jackass here?" Nick hissed. "It's not like he gives a damn."

Deva looked between her cousin, who was frowning, and her boyfriend, who was fuming, worriedly. "Syna, I can explain." She whispered at last.

Syna pursed her lips. "I am not surprised you told him, Deva, but I vish you had told me."

"I'm sorry..." Deva whispered, bowing her head.

"It's my fault." Nick cut in. "I asked."

Syna nodded dully as Deva turned to stare at Nick. "No matter. As for vy Voldemort is here?" Nick nodded. "Doo vas asking for him."

The Muggle man sighed. "Figures."

Syna held out a piece of paper to Nick. "This vas next to him ven I found him. Vo is this Zack?"

Nick's eyes flashed. "I knew it." He glanced up at the Deputy Headmistress with icy eyes. "He's Doo's ex. They broke up right before Tom first came over for a visit."

Syna nodded while Deva tugged the note from her boyfriend's hand. She paled as she read it. "No vonder he tried to kill himself." She whispered at last.

"Zack is a sore loser." Nick growled. "And if I ever get my hands on him again, he's going to be a _dead_ loser."

"I knov a fev good torture charms." Syna offered brightly, gaze chilled.

"I might just take you up on that." Nick responded.

Deva shook her head at the two. "Just do not let Voldemort hear about any of this, or there von't be any Zack to find, let alone torture."

"No. Ve vill haff to keep this from him." Syna agreed. "Come. I vill take you to the Hospital Ving and ve may all fawn over Doo."

"Vell Syna calls Voldemort names." Deva agreed.

Syna shot her cousin a dark look as Nick broke out into sniggers.

-

"You can kiss him, you know. I promise not to tell." Nick offered to the Dark Lord as he came to stand next to his friend's bed.

Voldemort's head shot up and he glared at Nick, who took a step back. "Why is there a _Muggle_ in Hogwarts?" He hissed furiously.

Nick's eyes flashed. "Because this _Muggle_ is Doo's best friend and, unlike some idiot _wizards_, I actually _care_ about him."

Voldemort stood and Nick had to look up at the towering figure. "I _dare_ you to repeat that, Muggle." He spat, pointing his wand at the younger man's heart.

"No! Stop it!" Deva jumped between the feuding males. "I brought him! If you must punish someone, punish me!"

"And I invited them both." Syna added coldly. "If you try _Crucio_ing me, I'll hex you. Idiot."

The Dark Lord winced, but sat back down. "Shut up, Syna." He muttered.

Three people stared at the Dark Lord in shock. "I think Doo is a bad influence." Deva decided. "He is making you sound almost _human_, Lo-"

"My _name_," Voldemort hissed, spinning around in his seat to glare at the witch. "Is _Tom_. If you call me anything else, I'll kill you."

"Obviously not a bad _enough_ influence." Nick muttered, stepping up to sit on the end of the bed and settling a hand on Doo's legs. "Doo-man, Marvolo really wasn't worth this, you know?"

"I am going to hex you." Tom spat.

Nick smirked at the Dark Lord before returning his attention to Doo. "This feels just like the old days, when I'd tell you Zack was a little shithead and you needed to dump him before he dumped you. So, let me tell you now, why don't you just dump old Marvolo over here before he can dump you, eh?"

"You little-" Tom started.

Doo gave a rasping laugh. "He's messing with you, Tom. Ignore him." The Forgotten muttered. "Nick, I didn't know Muggles could come into Hogwarts."

"They can't. I gave him an amulet that lets him do so." Syna offered, ignoring the dark look the Dark Lord shot at her.

"Doo, vat happened?" Deva whispered.

Doo cracked his eyes opened and looked around at everyone, eyes, thankfully, clear now. "Stressed, I guess."

"About Marvolo doing a disappearing act?" Nick asked helpfully.

"That's enough, Nicholas." Doo said in a firm voice before Tom could shoot back a response.

"Sorry." Nick sighed, patting Doo's leg gently. "You're usually stressed, but I've never seen you do something this stupid. Well, except for that time you decided to see how long it would take for you to hit the water of the Clyde if you jumped from Kingston Bridge..."

"You _didn't_." Deva gasped.

Doo grimaced. "Once. That was seven years ago. Shut up, Nick."

"But, Doo, vy vould you jump off a bridge?" Deva begged.

"Zack." Nick said plainly.

"I'm starting to see vy you dislike this guy, Nick." Syna muttered darkly, before looking back at Doo. "Vat about this time?"

"I cracked." Doo shrugged.

"That's not good enough." Tom cut in, giving Doo a sharp look. "Try again."

Doo let out a helpless sigh. "Zack sent me a letter and he said a few things, that's all."

"I'll kill him." Tom decided.

"You will not." Doo hissed, reaching out and grabbing the Dark Lord's hand as he stood. "You will sit back down and behave yourself."

"Why should I?" Tom shot back.

Doo's eyes dulled rather suddenly. "Because I have a feeling that, if you leave, you'll never come back." He whispered.

Tom sat back down rather suddenly. "Sorry. I'll stay." He said softly, squeezing the hand in his own tightly.

Doo smiled and closed his eyes. "Good."

Nick smirked at Tom. "Pucker up." He whispered.

"You're one very dead little fucker." The Dark Lord hissed.

"Nick, stop tormenting Tom already." Doo muttered.

Nick just grinned.

-

"Tell me about this Zack." Tom said suddenly to Nick, who was sitting on the end of Doo's bed still. The two men had been left to watch over the sleeping Doo alone, since Deva needed to get the things she and Nick had left in the hotel and Syna had been called away by one of the other professors to handle something.

Nick sighed and glanced up at the vaulted ceiling. "What all do you know?"

"They met in the hospital after the war and Zack helped Doo start anew. They were close, but didn't always see eye-to-eye…" The Dark Lord sighed, glancing down at the hand he still held in his own.

Nick nodded. "Zack hated kids, for one thing. He was always trying to talk Doo into closing the shop and moving in with him in Glasgow, where he worked as a lawyer. Zack would say that Doo wouldn't have to work, he'd support them both, but..." Nick let out a helpless sigh. "Zack never understood many things about Doo. One of them was that Doo needed to work. He needed to support himself. It's just a part of who he is. And he adores children. It probably has something to do with something that happened before the memory loss, but I don't know what."

"I noticed that. He likes to protect them." Tom agreed softly.

"He does always seem to want to be the hero." Nick snorted. "He's always protecting people. From his past, I think." He glanced up at the Dark Lord. "Makes sense, really, if he lived through a war."

"Yes..."

"Zack and Doo always fought over things. Sherbet Lemon was just one of those things. The shop was Doo's life, and it has always come before anything else. He _loves_ that place." Nick smiled faintly at his friend. "I had to use it against him the time he tried to jump off Kingston Bridge. He wouldn't talk to me for a week after that, but he didn't try jumping off any more bridges."

Tom gave a sad little laugh at that. "No. He slit his wrists instead."

"Yeah..." Nick rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what they fought about that last time, and nor do I really care. I've spent eight years trying to get them to break up because I _knew_ Zack would find a way to push Doo over the edge. When they finally broke up and Zack moved to London, I thought this was over, but it's not." He caught the scarlet gaze with his own dark one rather suddenly. "Listen to me right now, Marvolo. I don't like you, not in the least, but I'll put my feelings to the side because I can see you're good for Doo. But, if you _ever_ hurt him again, I don't care how many of your foolish followers are surrounding you, I will go through them all just to murder you."

Tom nodded numbly, eyes wide.

Nick stood. "He loves you, though I'll never understand why, and you've got some feelings for him." The dark-eyed young man said. "Take care of him." Then he turned and left the ward, probably to await Deva on the front stairs.

The Dark Lord glanced back down at Doo. _'He loves me? How... No, don't bother with the how, Tom. That's not your concern right now. Right now your concern is making sure Doo's okay.'_ He frowned. _'And figuring out these "feelings" Ripley seems to think you have for Doo...'_

-

"I didn't think you'd leave him alone vith Doo, even if he bribed you." Deva commented as she settled on the stair next to her boyfriend.

"I don't like him." Nick admitted. "But there's some sort of connection between those two that I can't destroy without also losing my friend. If Doo loves him like I think he does, then there's not much I can do, you know?"

"Yes." Deva sighed and rested her head on Nick's shoulder. "Vat are you tvo going to do about Zack?"

"Doo's going to recover. I'm going to take the little shithead to court." Nick hissed coldly. "Monday, I need to head back to town to get people to help me with this. There's no way I'm letting Zack take Sherbet Lemon from Doo."

"I vill help. That shop is his life. I vill not stand by vell my boyfriend fights for the shop of a mutual friend." Deva promised. "Ve vill go into town together Monday and visit the people ve knov."

"Right." Nick nodded firmly and draped his arm around Deva's shoulders. "I really love you sometimes."

"Mm... And I love you." Deva smiled.

-

-

**A/N:** These chapters are just too short, I know. Sorry.

smirks- So, can I assume everyone's figured out the pairing now?

-

**_Thanks to:_**  
**_LJ: _**vampsarecool, sev0109, rkrkxx, abrighterdawn, orderofchaos, eaivalefay, benightedfool, celestialspy, cloe, slythenigma, zakhynsia, _and_ mynona  
**_FFN: _**Naked!Tom Whore, das eulchen, Firehedgehog, rosiegirl, ailisa d. frieson, Rhysel Ash, Vinie, tessa3, atalante, Ann Riddle, ISC, Linker27, the person, iamtherealmaverick, Can You See, Gecko, silvermist91, lid, Pronksblacks, the person with no name, phoenix catcher, Because-I-Got-High, japanese-jew, crazy-tom-lover, peacockgal17, XXRoseDawsonXX, Sear, ChePotter, JadedSecrets, Dark-Faerie161, Gldnlqr, ari, Ebony Moonlight, _and_ Alana Hikari-Chan

**Naked!Tom Whore:** I think it's odd that you're the only one I call by your "nickname", and everyone else foes by their username...  
No, they did see Doo dead. Well, Voldemort did. -sighes- Will be explained. Swear it.  
Oh, Tom gets his. -snorts- I like Syna, if only 'cause she gets to scream her head off everyone's favourite Dark Lord when he screws up.  
Call him Doo, I suppose. It's what I'll be calling him the rest of the fic.  
FFN is doooooooooom... -shakes fist at FFN- But -laughes- yes, I suppose I could see someone randomly clicking on the link just because they like everything I've written so far. -laughes again- I should write a Ron/Harry, just to see if anyone would actually click it. -snorts in amusement-

**das eulchen:** I hope this chapter answer the majority of your questions! As for Zack, he's a Muggle, through and through. Just a bit of a jealous bastard, really.

**ailisa d. frieson:** I wouldn't call him a cutter, myself, since, to me, a cutter is someone who cuts regularly as an escape from life(or whatever excuse they use. Mine was always an escape from life). This was more of a split second suicidal urge. He was on the edge and the letter tipped him too far. So, he's not a cutter, really, just had a rather serious bout of depression.

**Linker27:** -laughes- Really, you all are lucky. I used to always end chapters with cliffies, mostly for the reviews. I did manage to finally break that habit, you know. Well... -glances at last chapter- ...maybe not _totally_... -snorts in amusement-

**Can You See:** Doo's hair colour will be explained in... -counts- ...three more chapters.

**Gecko:** -laughes- No. No, Zack's a Muggle.

**the person with no name:** Tom hasn't figured out who Doo is yet, no. Few more chapters till that happens.

**peacockgal17:** I wasn't very pleased with the whole suicide scene myself, but I wanted it to be rather sudden, since the action itself was impulsive.  
Thank you. I thought the chapter was a bit too short, personally, but it did have quite a bit of emotional baggage. Glad you liked it(except that dratted suicide scene...)

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** Can I still get that present? -puppy dog eyes-

**Sear:** -laughes- I'm sorry. And then it ended up being, what? Two weeks between updates? -smacks self- Opps.  
Well! Welcome to the review club! -laughes-

**JadedSecrets:** -amused look- I wasn't sure if I was going to be praised, or have to run for the hills for a second there. Glad you liked it(even if I was a bit evil about the ending).

**Ebony Moonlight:** -laughes- That just made my day. And I'm sure the make-up shag would be the best part!(Pity they haven't quite hashed out their feelings yet. -scowls at Doo and Tom- Get a move on, already!)

**Alana Hikari-Chan:** Yes, Doo is being a bit uke. -sheepish look- However, Doo, as a person, is fairly uke. Harry's life was a bit more harsh, so he's much more seme than Doo. -sighes- I'm sure that didn't make as much sense as I wanted it to... It'll all work out, in time. Promise.

-

Batsutousai  
(T.T I have an evile sunburn. I need love. Much love. -sob-)


	6. Five: Another Clue

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs, Suicide attempt  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** Mehee. I finally filled in the pairings. Mehee.

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing  
"Doo's memory flashes"  
¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** I swear I meant to get this up yesterday, damnit! But I've been sick lately(as anyone on LJ or who's read my rant in Abandon is now probably aware) and I came home, took some meds, and crashed(only to be woken about an hour later by my pesky mother, but I'm sure none of you are interested in my current woes). On account of my unplanned for kip, I didn't have the time(nor the memory, for that matter) to post this yesterday. I apologize formally and would prostrate myself at your feet, my loving readers, but I doubt anyone wants to see snot pooling on the ground at their feet, so I shall just sit back with my tissue box and allow you to all enjoy the show!  
/ end drama

-

Chapter Five  
Another Clue

-

"Where are Nick and Deva?" Doo inquired when Syna came in Monday afternoon. The pale-haired man was sitting up in the bed looking much better. Tom was still seated next to him, and had only left his side to use the restroom and change, once, into more comfortable robes.

"They vent back into tovn." Syna sighed, sitting down at the end of the bed, where Nick normally sat. "They're rallying the tovnspeople to help in the court case against Zack."

'_What court case?'_ Tom frowned.

Doo's eyes widened in shock. "They aren't..."

"They most certainly are." Syna replied. "There's no vay you're losing Sherbet Lemon to him. Ve vill all help."

"Wait, wait!" Tom looked between the two on the bed suspiciously, having figured out this had something to do with the letter Zack had sent Doo. "What exactly did that letter say?"

"Oh, it called me a few pleasant names, mentioned a few nice memories from the past, and mentioned that Zack's filing a suit against my candy shop for it's un-cleanliness." Doo replied brightly.

"Un-cleanliness?" Tom growled, red eyes flashing. "I'll show him un-cleanliness..." He was half out of his chair when Syna got to him and pushed him back down.

"I haff strict orders from one Mr Nicholas Ripley to keep you vith Doo at any cost until he says othervise. Do not make me tie you to your chair, Mr Marvolo." Syna said seriously, shaking a finger in the Dark Lord's face.

Tom narrowed his eyes at her. "You have no control over me, Krum."

"So I am not your superior?" Syna shot back. "You look not like Voldemort, Mr Marvolo, and he is the only one that can order me around."

The Dark Lord stared at her for a long moment in mild shock before letting out a huff and sitting back in his chair. "Get out of my face, Syna."

Syna smirked and sat back down on the end of Doo's bed while the pale-haired man sniggered. "Tom, you are so silly!"

"Oh, shut up, Doo." Tom muttered.

Doo smiled at the scarlet-eyed man before looking back at the witch on the end of his bed. "They left this morning?"

"Yes." Syna nodded.

"How do they plan to put this together by next week?" Doo whispered.

"They're going to go around to everyone they knov and get help in gathering more people. Nick says a lot of people like you in that tovn and they vould be sad to see you leave. He believes they vill all stand vith you. Zack has not a chance."

Doo shook his head. "Zack's a good lawyer. I don't have much hope for this case."

"Do you have a lawyer?" Tom asked suddenly.

Doo shook his head again. "Zack was my shop's lawyer. I never really had a need to get a new one. This was unexpected, and I don't have the money for it, either, now that I think about it..." He bit his lip.

Tom glanced at Syna. "May I leave my chair long enough to make a fire-call to _my_ lawyer?" He inquired of his second.

"Tom, no..."

Tom gave Doo a sharp look to end his complaint and looked back at Syna. "Well?"

"You think Peter vill handle a Muggle case?" Syna inquired.

"You're assuming I'm giving him a choice, my dear." The Dark Lord replied in a honey-filled voice.

Syna grimaced. "Go on, then. Use the fire in Dulcie's office, she's helping Severus vith some potions she needs."

"As if Severus _needs_ the help." The Dark Lord growled before getting up and walking towards the office.

"Peter?" Doo inquired of the witch.

Syna nodded. "Peter Pettigrev."

Doo blinked a few times in shock. "_Wormtail_ became a _lawyer_?" He asked at last.

Syna smiled. "Yes. It vas a shock, but he is a good one. He has von every case I haff ever seen him fight in."

"How many times does he put the judge under _Imperio_?" Doo snorted, amused. He had no clue how he knew that this "Peter Pettigrew" also was known as Wormtail, but Syna had taken it in stride, as usual these days, so he just followed her example.

"He doesn't. He just alvays has good arguments."

"For some reason, that sounds like him." The pale-haired man agreed.

"He will do it." Tom said suddenly as he came back out into the main ward.

"Hov many times did you haff to threaten him?" Syna asked with a touch of laughter in her voice.

"None, remarkably." The Dark Lord replied, sitting back down in his chair. "I merely told him I had a Muggle case that I needed him to work on for me."

"Maybe he vas being agreeable so you _vouldn't_ threaten him." Syna decided.

"Probably." Tom smiled at Doo. "See. All taken care of."

Doo smiled back. "Yeah. Thanks, Tom."

"Of course."

-

"Well, you can probably handle going down to the Great Hall for dinner, Mr Tarrant." Dulcie said after doing a scan on the Forgotten.

Doo glanced over at Tom, then grinned at the pleading look on the Dark Lord's face. "Sure."

"Yes." Tom whispered, winking at Doo from behind the mediwitch.

Dulcie turned around and frowned at the Dark Lord. She'd been informed of his second identity earlier, as had the rest of the staff. Syna had made certain that Doo wouldn't find out that Tom was really Voldemort until the Dark Lord felt like it, even though she didn't agree with his game. "Listen here, Mr Marvolo," Dulcie started, shaking her finger in Tom's face, "I want you to keep a _very_ close eye on Mr Tarrant. I don't want him back in here again for quite some time!"

Doo's face lit up. "You mean I'm out of here!"

Dulcie smiled at the pale-haired man over her shoulder. "You've recovered very well, Doo. If you'd like to get out of the Infirmary, I have no problems with it, but I _do_ ask that you spend at least this night in the castle with someone near you. In the morning, I'd like to do one last scan, then we'll see if you can leave the school for the day..."

"As long as I don't do anything strenuous, yes, I know." Doo rolled his eyes, smiling. "I like that idea, actually. Is there a place in the school that I can sleep in that would have a member of the staff near me or something?"

Dulcie glanced over her shoulder at the Dark Lord, who was tugging a change of robes out of his small travelling case, before replying. "Tom has a private suite here at the school that has an extra bedroom. I'm sure he'd let you stay with him if you asked."

Doo blushed and turned his gaze to the windows. "Maybe..."

"What have you done this time, Dulcie?" Tom muttered before tossing the robes on top of Doo's head. "If those don't fit you, I'll resize them for you."

Doo grinned at his friend from behind the loaned clothing, cheeks still brushed with a tint of pink. "Thanks, Tom." He said before getting out of the bed and wandering over to the bathroom to change.

"He likes you." Dulcie said rather suddenly to the Dark Lord after the bathroom door had closed. Tom looked at her in shock. "He does." She poked his side. "And you're going to take care of my patient or I'll have your head, my Lord."

Tom scowled. "Yes, mother."

The mediwitch smiled brightly. "Have a good evening, Mr Marvolo." She offered before returning to her office.

Tom muttered something under his breath about idiot mediwitches that thought they could order _him_ around having another thing coming.

Doo slipped out of the bathroom, gripping the robe tightly at his neck, and walked over to Tom. "It's a little too big, yeah." He muttered.

Tom nodded and pulled out his yew wand. "Let go of them or I can't be sure they fit, Doo." He ordered. The younger man glanced up at him nervously and Tom realized what the problem was. "We all have scars, remember?" He said gently.

Slowly, Doo let go of the collar and let it hang straight, eyes on the floor before him. His shoulders were quite a bit narrower than the Dark Lord's, so the robe slipped down far enough to show a nasty-looking scar over his heart that looked like someone had tried pulling the organ out. Tom fought back the reflex to wince, he knew that hadn't been a pleasant torture device, and he had used it constantly, and just cast the spell to shrink the clothing.

Once the robes were resized, Doo let out a hiss of air, and glanced up at the scarlet eyes, half expecting to see disgust there. What he found was sadness and it startled him. "Tom?"

"Perhaps it's a good thing you don't remember some things." The Dark Lord replied sadly as he put his wand away.

Doo blinked a few times in confusion. "Why?"

"That scar, over your heart," Tom met Doo's gaze evenly. "It was my fault. I am sorry."

The pale-haired man offered his friend a faint smile. "The past is gone, Tom. It was a war, and things like that happen."

"War, yes." Tom looked up at the ceiling with a frown. "Is war an excuse to rip people's hearts out?" He glanced back at Doo curiously.

"War is the excuse for everything." Was Doo's calm response. "Let's go to the Great Hall and get some grub."

Tom let out a snort and held out his arm for Doo to take. Together, they walked down to the Great Hall in silence. Just before they stepped inside, though, Tom paused and glanced down at his companion, who blinked at him. "I am sorry, though. I wasn't, before, but I am now." He said softly before leading Doo into the Hall and seating them both at the end of the table, next to Severus.

Doo pondered Tom's words as he filled his plate and the scarlet-eyed man struck up a conversation with the Potions professor. _'Deva was right. I am a good influence on him. Well, she said **bad**, but I think it's good. Of course, we're on...well, we **were** on opposite sides...'_ Doo sighed, not noticing the worried look the Dark Lord shot at him. _'When Syna introduced Tom, she started to call him something that started with an "L"... When Deva was saying I was a bad influence on Tom a couple of days ago, she started to call him something that started with "Lo"... Both times, Tom corrected them rather sharply. So he's not telling me his true name? Or is he telling **me** his birth name and **others** know him by some other name?_

'_This is so confusing! Tom's so close-mouthed about some things and he's really rather violent with other people. He's nice to me, which is great and all, but I wish I knew what he was **really** like. Everyone else walks on eggshells around him, as if he'll explode if they do the wrong thing... Well, everyone but Syna, who, as Voldemort's second, holds power of some sort over Tom... At least, that's what I **think** is going on... Tom Marvolo, you're such a riddle!'_ Doo complained mentally, accidentally spearing his fork into his chicken a little too hard.

Tom looked over quickly at the sharp 'clang' and noticed the vexed look on Doo's face. "Doo, are you okay?" He asked gently.

Doo looked up in surprise. "Yes. Just thinking."

"Don't stress yourself out. I really don't need Dulcie to hunt me down, thanks." The Dark Lord replied wryly.

Doo smiled. "Right. Sorry."

Tom waved the apology off. "Eat."

The pale-haired man glanced back down at his plate. _'No time like the present to see if I can stay with him tonight, I guess...'_ Doo took a deep breath and glanced back up at Tom, who was giving him and odd look. "Dulcie mentioned that you have a private suite here." He started off, fighting a blush down.

Tom blinked a few times. "Yes..."

"And she said it has an extra room..."

The Dark Lord mentally threw a few dozen hexes at the mediwitch before smiling at Doo. "Yes, it does. Would you like to stay with me tonight?"

Doo nodded. "If it's not too much trouble, I mean..."

"Of course it's no trouble. I'll show you the place after dinner. Now, eat your food before it runs off." The Dark Lord replied in a calm voice.

Doo snorted and turned back to his plate. "Idiot."

Tom laughed.

-

"It's not as clean as your flat, and we've got _house-elves_ here, so please ignore the mess." Tom said with a grimace before turning to the door and waving his wand in a complex pattern right in front of the wood. The door popped open and the two stepped in.

Doo looked around curiously. There were six stern-looking chairs placed in a half-circle in front of the fireplace. There were built-in bookshelves lining the walls and filled with books on all sorts of subjects. In front of the only empty section of wall, there sat a long cabinet which had empty trays placed atop it. On either side of the fireplace was a door. A third door was at the end of the cabinet. In an out-of-the-way corner sat a table with what looked like building plans and notes piled on top in a disorderly fashion. Other than the table, the place looked extremely clean, and Doo told Tom so.

Tom grimaced. "You haven't seen my bedroom yet."

Doo grinned. "Tom, you never saw _my_ bedroom. The place is an absolute war zone!"

Tom looked relieved. "Oh, you don't know how much better I feel, knowing you're not a neat-freak!"

Doo smacked the Dark Lord's arm. "Prat."

Tom grinned. "Come on. I'll show you your room." He offered, then led the pale-haired man to the door on the right side of the fireplace.

They entered a room decked out in blue. The canopy bed was draped with blue hangings which closed at the pull of a cord. The covers of the bed were silk and coloured a pastel blue, as were the pillow shams. A wardrobe that stood against the far right wall, and the table that sat in front of a plush blue chair were both painted blue to match the rest of the room.

"You think people who stay in here will like blue?" Doo teased.

"Don't you?" The Dark Lord replied with a worried expression.

"Yes, it's fine." Doo smiled. "Thank you."

Tom tugged on a lock of Doo's hair. "Of course." He nodded to the door that was in the centre of the left wall. "That's the door to my room, if you need me for anything. The door out in the main room that is next to the snack table is to the bathroom."

Doo nodded. "What will I do about sleeping cloths?"

Tom smiled. "The wardrobe has a spell on it to size the clothing in it to whatever size that is needed. There should be a couple of pairs of pajamas in there that you may borrow. There are also quite a few robes and some Muggle clothing, so you can dress for tomorrow in whatever you'd like."

"Great." Doo grinned before heading over to the door to Tom's room.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked suspiciously as Doo tugged open the door. "No! Don't go in there!"

Doo glanced around the room of his friend and grinned. The place was just as much as a war zone as his own room. Clothing was strewn about the room and a few random pictures were set up on a small table in one corner. The wardrobe's doors were thrown open and there were robes and other garments hanging out. The canopy bed sat in a dark corner of the room and was just like the one in the guest room next door, except this one was done up in green and silver. A small bookcase sat next to a plush chair in the far wall closest to the door to the sitting-room.

Tom poked his head onto the room over Doo's shoulder. **:He is safe.:** He hissed.

Doo looked up at him in surprise. Tom's words had been mostly clear, with a distinct serpent-like hiss sliding though the syllables in a confusing manner. It was almost as if the language the scarlet-eyed man had spoken in was one Doo had once spoken himself, but had started to forget. _'The memory spell? But, Syna said it shouldn't hamper my knowledge of other languages if I once knew them...'_ He thought with a frown.

"Doo?" Tom set a hand on his friend's shoulder, then nodded towards the ground in front of them. Doo looked down, eyes widening in shock at the cobra sitting there peacefully. "This is Inda." Tom offered. **:Luv, this is my friend, Doo.:**

The serpent rose up in the air. **:He tastes different from the others I have met.:**

**:He's been in the Muggle world for a long time now, and he's a Forgotten.:** Tom replied.

**:No, that's not it. He smells like...:** Inda cocked her head to one side and tasted the air again. **:He smells like you, Tom.:**

Tom's eyes widened and he turned to stare at Doo, who was examining the snake from above. **:Like me how?.:**

Inda offered the Dark Lord a serpentine smile, a truly frightening thing. **:He has power, and he smells faintly of snakes.:** The cobra slid forward and curled herself around Doo's right leg, startling the Forgotten. **:I like him.:**

Tom rolled his eyes and offered Doo a small smile. "She won't hurt you."

"I-I know..." Doo replied, bending down so he could stroke the serpent's head. "She likes me, right?"

Tom's eyes widened again. "You speak Parseltongue..."

"_I heard you speaking Parseltongue. Snake language."_ Echoed a voice in Doo's mind. He glanced up a Tom with a frown. "Snake language?"

Tom nodded grimly. "I thought I was the only one left..." He ran a hand through his hair. "There was one other that I knew of in the war, but he's dead. I _know_ he's dead." He stepped into the room and started kicking clothing over towards the wardrobe, an agitated expression on his face.

Inda slithered up Doo's torso and rested her head on the Forgotten's shoulder. **:He does this every time Harry Potter is mentioned.:**

"Harry Potter?" Doo whispered back, dully noting that he didn't appear able to speak Parseltongue, just understand it.

Inda nodded. **:Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. He was Tom's greatest foe, more so than even Dumbledore, though others might disagree with that.:**

"Why?"

**:Why would I think Harry Potter was Tom's greatest foe? Or why would others disagree?.:** Inda teased gently. She really did like this young man.

"Both, I guess." Doo decided, wincing as Tom stubbed his toe on the bed post and let out a string of curses. "Should we go back to the guest room?"

**:Probably safest.:** Inda agreed with a touch of laughter in her voice.

Doo grinned and slipped back into the blue room he'd be staying in for the night and settled himself on the bed. "Well, Inda?"

Inda slid down to the top of the bed and stared at Doo for a long moment before speaking. **:There was a prophesy that claimed that Harry Potter would be the only one who could kill Tom. Dumbledore was powerful and a danger, yes, but he would never kill Tom, and they both knew it. Harry Potter wasn't seen as a _real_ threat to the wizarding world at large because the prophesy was never made public. He was always just a kid with a fair amont of power.:**

"You sound sad..."

Inda let out something that translated to a sigh in Doo's mind. **:I met Harry Potter once, but Tom doesn't know that. He was a very sad child. He died in the war.:**

"How old was he, Inda?" Doo inquired softly.

**:Early twenties, I think. He was a co-leader of the Light, and one of their best fighters.:** The serpent offered mildly. **:He hated that, but he had no choice.:**

"No choice?"

Inda shook her head. **:No. He was the Boy-Who-Lived for surviving the Killing Curse. He was famous at one.:**

"And he didn't like it..." Doo whispered, shaking his head. "I can agree with him, then. I'd hate being in the public eye all the time."

**:It is stressful, yes.:** Inda agreed. **:Why don't you change for bed? I will stay in here tonight. Tom is in his scary mood.:**

Doo laughed. "All right." He grabbed some pajamas from the wardrobe, then went out to change in the bathroom.

Tom poked his head into the room. **:He's left?.:**

**:Yes.:** Inda glanced up at the Dark Lord calmly. **:I will stay in here and watch your friend. He is good conversation.:**

Tom grimaced. **:Sorry.:**

**:Go to sleep, Tom. I will call you if there is trouble.:** Inda sighed.

The Dark Lord offered his serpent a faint smile before slipping back into his room and closing the door, but he spelled a small hole in the bottom so Inda could slither between the rooms easily.

-

**:Tom! TOM!.:**

The Dark Lord bolted upright in his bed and squinted around for the person calling his name. "Who's there?" He grumbled, fingers flexing around his wand under the pillows.

**:It's Inda! Come quick, please!.:**

Tom poked his head over the edge of the bed and blinked at the yellow eyes watching him. **:What's wrong? What's happened?.:**

**:Doo is screaming in his sleep.:** Inda replied, worry colouring her hiss.

**:Shit.:** The Dark Lord jumped out of bed and immediately hurried into the connecting room, not bothering to grab a robe to throw over his scarred torso. As Inda had said, Doo was flailing around in his bed, screaming. Tom muttered a spell and a small splash of water hit Doo in the face.

Doo's eyes snapped open and focused on the first thing he saw, which happened to be scarlet eyes. "Tom?" He whispered.

Tom slipped onto the bed and rested a hand on Doo's forehead. "You had a nightmare."

The pale-haired man sat up rather suddenly and buried his face in Tom's chest. "There was so much death and pain. And Ron and the twins were dead. They were fighting off the Death Eaters and then Voldemort came and he _killed_ them! He just _killed_ them without a second thought! Oh, God... Oh God..."

Tom folded his arms around the sobbing man and closed his eyes, rocking back and forth gently. _'The Weasleys. Oh, Doo, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry...'_

Once Doo had finally fallen back to sleep, Tom tried getting up to go back to his own room, but the younger man had a death grip on him that just would not loosen. With a resigned sigh, the Dark Lord pulled the silk sheets up over both of them and settled in for the night.

-

-

**A/N:** -cackles evilly, then pauses for a small coughing fit- This cold is seriously cramping my style, damnit!. -scowls darkly-

I just know people are going to ask me about Nagini, so I'll just mention this here: She's dead. Snakes don't live as long as humans, and she died not long after the war.

Twist on Wormtail. I thought it would be interesting to make him a respectable job. He'd probably make a better detective than a lawyer but, hey, humour me, k?

Also, a link to the guidelines on my loverly new fic journal, which is where you'll be finding full chapters(if they've been spliced because of FFN), _hopefully_ every chapter of every fic that up here on FFN(plus a few drabbles and original fiction), and any updates, like, why I haven't been updating. -winks- I do ask that you read through the guidelines before commenting, of course(none of us want a repeat of my little rant in Abandon, I'm sure... -sweatdrop-)  
Linkit(Just take out the spaces): www . livejournal . com / users / batsutousai / 480 . html

-

**_Thanks to:  
_****_LJ:_** vampsarecool, tinkerpixy, sev0109, silentfire, celestialspy, eaivalefay, mynona, Gecko, catrionamalfoy, marksangel4eva, orderofchaos, _and_ ravenkerry  
**_FFN:_** dogmoon183, Linker27, XXRoseDawsonXX, rosiegirl, peacockgal17, Yoake, caliadragon, Naked!Tom Whore, antares520, SolitaryPoison, Gryffindork, loverBoy, HellsBitch, luc, angel the hell cat, Child-of-the-Waves, iamtherealmaverick, JadedSecrets, tessa3, Enelen, RiverView, Hoshi, dmweasley, _and_ Firehedgehog

**Linker27:** No, I didn't take them from FF7. -grins- Just a weird coincidence.

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** -happily munching on cookies- Now, about that gift... XD

**peacockgal17:** -bows down- Perhaps it was just a sudden ending to the chapter. Strikes me that way, at least.

**Yoake:** As you can see in this chapter, Ron and the twins were mentioned, and Hermione's kinda been reintroduced. So, uhm, sort of. You'll find out where most of the rest of the characters are(which ones have died and which ones live on) in about two more chapters. However, no, most of them won't be playing a very big part in the future.

**caliadragon:** -bows- Thank you. My abilities with depression, regretably, come from life experience. It happens.  
-laughes- Yes, Zack will get his, and it should be _very_ interesting when Doo's identity is revealed.

**Naked!Tom Whore:** -snorts- A _bit_ of an obsession? Understatement, m'dear.  
-laughes- Yes! I _am_ evil! However, you need only wait two more chapters before all things are explained.(Okay, well, _most_ things... XP)  
-sniggers- And Syna knocks him down another peg!. -cheers for Syna-  
-amused look- Okay, okay. Not Ron/Harry then. How about Albus/Harry? I mean, I've got the loverly little plot bunny... XD  
Lucius deserves the death threats anyway(Not that they really keep him in line, though...)  
But I'm a _Slytherin_. Of _course_ I'd hog all the praise and humour!. -winks-

**HellsBitch:** -amazed look- I suppose I _do_ have a thing for LV/HP. Wow... -grabs bucket to catch dripping sarcasm-  
The chapters will start getting longer, thank Merlin. I hate that they're so short, personally.(Well, they'll start getting longer, then start shrinking... -.-)  
-hugs- I've got so many people offering to help me fix Abandon we'll crush the poor baby. -laughes- Thank you, of course. I'll surely drop you a line if I need the help.

**luc:** Sorry! I was being deliberately vague with the whole suing thing last chapter. Hope this chapter cleared that up!

**angel the hell cat:** I'm sure there are people who've thought of Tom/Severus/Harry as a pairing. I, however, have never seen it. Pity, that.

**Child-of-the-Waves:** He knows better than to kill Syna. -laughes- Poor Voldie. Gets yelled at all the time because he can't kill off his second.(On the other hand, she had a valid excuse.)

**tessa3:** -laughes- Yes, I have an LJ. -amused look- Should I give you the line about how I've mentioned it at the end of every Abandon chapter, or will I get smacked for that?

**Enelen:** -laughes- Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself! Even if you haven't been reviewing. -winks-  
As for most of your questions, yes, they'll be answered in a couple of chapters. Except for the age one. Inda kind of answered that one here. -grins- Just hang tight and all will be answered in time(I hope... -.-)

**RiverView:** Oh, I wouldn't call you dumb, I'd just call myself not thorough enough. -winks- As for your question: No, Tom doesn't know that Doo is Harry. The only real similarities between Harry and Doo are his eyes and, now, the Parsel. Most of the things will be explained in the future but, the easiest way to explain Tom not thinking this could be Harry Potter is that he really and truly believes Harry is dead.(That will also be touched on more in a couple chapters. I don't really want to give too much away right now...) Hope this helps!

-

Batsutousai


	7. Six: Discovered

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs, Suicide attempt  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** I am listening to my Beatles CD. I still can't believe I managed to find it in my room… O.o

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_"Doo's memory flashes"_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** Dude. My mouth HURTS!. -whimpers-

-

Chapter Six  
Discovered

-

Doo woke up warm. At first, he was surprised to see Tom sleeping next to him with a peaceful expression on his face. Then he remembered the nightmare from last night and buried his face in the older man's chest with a shudder. _'I'm grateful he woke me, I suppose, but he didn't really have to stay the rest of the night. Not that I mind, of course. This is rather nice...'_ Doo sighed softly. _'Don't bother getting used to this, Tarrant. It's not worth the heartache.'_

The Forgotten opened his eyes, then narrowed them rather suddenly at the skin he was resting against. Tom didn't sleep with a shirt, apparently, so all of the scars on his chest were visible. Most of them were vicious-looking, and some looked a bit faded, as if they were decades old. There was one really nasty one, though, that started at the top of his left shoulder and disappeared below his pants' line that caught the green-eyed man's attention. Doo figured it was from the war and thoughtlessly ran a finger down it, biting his lower lip sadly.

"That tickles, you know." Tom muttered, making Doo jump.

"Sorry! I didn't- I mean-"

"I'm not yelling at you, Doo." The Dark Lord sighed. "I don't really care, actually." He tugged on a lock of white hair. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Doo shuddered again. "This is the first time I've remembered the nightmare..."

Tom frowned. "You've had them before, then?"

Green eyes met scarlet. "Yeah. Zack was always waking me up the first fours years after the war because I was screaming, but I was never able to tell him what I'd seen, I couldn't remember them even that long. I haven't really had a nightmare since then, now that I think about it..." Doo frowned thoughtfully.

"You're a strong wizard. The spell could be wearing off, or just being around a place that's as concentrated with magic as Hogwarts is could be forcing you to remember things better. I have noticed that you have more memory flashes when there's a large supply of wild magic around you." Tom said philosophically. "You didn't have any nightmares in the Hospital Wing?"

Doo shook his head. "Maybe my body was too tired."

"Probably." Tom agreed.

Doo sighed and changed the topic. "You didn't have to stay with me all night, you know."

The Dark Lord gave him an amused look. "I'm afraid I wasn't given much of a choice. You've got a grip like a vice, Mr Tarrant."

Doo's face reddened. "Sorry..."

Tom tugged on a lock of white hair again with a smile. "Was I complaining?" Doo's blush deepened. "Why don't we both get dressed so we can go get some breakfast and have you looked at. If Dulcie says you're good to go, I'll take you back to the shop and we'll see how everyone's doing, hm?"

"Sounds like a plan." Doo agreed, sitting up. Tom smiled and got out of the bed, sticking his wand into the waistband of his pants before walking back to his room. "Tom?" Doo said right before the Dark Lord closed the door.

"Hum?" Tom glanced back at his friend.

"Thank you."

"It's what friends are for." The Dark Lord replied before letting the door close.

-

"That hardly looks good..." Tom murmured, nodding at the sharp-looking car that was parked outside of Sherbet Lemon.

Doo narrowed his eyes. "That's Zack's car."

**:Can I bite him:** Inda inquired from her position under Doo's shirt, wrapped around his torso, with her head on his shoulder. She'd decided to stay with him for a while, and Tom hadn't seen any reason to disagree.

**:Only if the little fucker tries anything funny.:** Tom replied.

Doo snorted. "Define 'funny,' Tom."

"If he tries to hurt you." The Dark Lord offered seriously.

"...Oh..." Doo bit his lower lip and concentrated on walking towards his shop.

"For the last time, where is he, you little shit?" Zack's voice floated from the shop while the two wizards were still two shops from Sherbet Lemon.

"Like fuck I'm going to tell you. Get out of here, Palmer." Nick's voice shot back sharply.

There was the sound of skin-on-skin and Doo's eyes widened. "Nick..." He hissed before sprinting into the shop. "Palmer, get away from him." He spat at the dark form in front of the counter.

"Doo!" Nick shouted as Zack spun around, brown eyes narrowed dangerously at his ex-boyfriend.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little shit himself." Zack mocked cruelly, taking a threatening step towards Doo.

**:Stay away from Doo:** Inda hissed, rearing up on Doo's shoulder and flaring her hood out threateningly. Zack froze, eyes widening.

"Uhm, Doo, bud, there's a cobra on your shoulder." Nick offered nervously.

"She's mine." Tom offered calmly as he stepped into the shop. "Good morning, Ripley."

"Morning, Marvolo. Good to see you actually listened to me for once." Nick replied as calmly as he could manage, eyes still on the angry snake on his friend's shoulder.

Tom stepped forward and stroked Inda's hood soothingly. "And you must be Zack Palmer. A pleasure to finally meet the man I've so been looking forward to offing."

**:Just don't eat him. He smells bad.:** Inda growled as she rested her head back down on Doo's shoulder, hood hidden again. She kept her eyes on Zack, though. Tom chuckled while Doo bit his lip to keep from smiling.

"Just who do you think you are?" Zack demanded of the Dark Lord.

Tom cocked an eyebrow at the Muggle. "How rude of me. I am Tom Marvolo."

Zack smirked. "Get a new boy toy already, Dooley?"

Doo snorted. "You're mixing me up with yourself, Palmer. I don't go out and have sex with the first pretty face I see." His gaze pierced through his ex. "Unlike some people I know."

"You're gonna die for that comment!" Zack shouted, jumping at Doo.

The Dark Lord moved with inhuman speed and caught the Muggle, mid-jump. "The only person who is facing death here, Mr Palmer, is you. Now then, I'm going to set you outside and you're going to get into your fancy little car and drive away. If I see you again before court next week, I'll rip your throat out." He said sharply before dragging the terrified man out of the shop.

"What is he? Part vampire?" Nick whispered as Doo walked over to the counter, petting Inda gently.

**:Part snake, actually.:** The serpent answered.

"Really? How'd he manage that?" Doo inquired, disregarding his own rules and seating himself on the counter. Nick didn't even bother to remind him of the rules.

**:No clue. I didn't know him back then.:**

"Oh..."

"You can understand it?" Nick whispered, leaning forward slightly.

Doo smiled. "Yes. She says Tom's part snake, but she doesn't know how he managed it."

"Wicked..." Nick sighed. "What's her name? Can I touch her?"

Doo laughed. "Nick, meet Inda. Inda, this is my friend, Nick Ripley."

**:He smells good. He may pet me, yes.:** Inda decided after flicking her tongue out.

Doo relayed the message and the two men laughed before petting her gently.

**:Are you having fun, Luv:** Tom inquired from the doorway, smiling at the three at the counter.

Nick jumped at the Dark Lord's hiss. "Good God, Marvolo! Don't _do_ that!"

**:Aw... Come on, Tom, you _ruined_ it:** Inda complained.

Tom and Doo traded looks before both burst out laughing. Nick just sighed and returned to petting the happy serpent.

-

"Doo! You're okay!" Deva cried happily as she and a few of the parents in the neighborhood stepped into the shop.

Doo smiled at the Bulgarian witch. "Dulcie let me go this morning. It's been a _very_ boring day."

"No stress." Tom offered from where he standing behind the counter with Nick, learning how to use the cash register.

"Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me." Doo grumbled.

Inda glanced up from where she'd been hiding under Doo's shirt. **:Hullo, Deva.:**

Deva blinked at the cobra in shock a few times while everyone else froze. "By the Gods. Inda? Vat are you doing vith Doo?"

"I lent her to him, sort of." Tom answered.

"She scared the fuck out of Zack." Doo sniggered.

"Palmer was in here?" One of the elder men in the town, Radolf Dalton, demanded sharply.

Doo nodded slowly. "Yeah. He was threatening Nick when Tom and I got here. Tom kicked him out. Sent him back to Glasgow."

"What did he want, Nicholas?" Radolf asked the dark-eyed man behind the counter.

Nick sighed. "He was looking for Doo. I have no clue why."

"He's probably planning on saying you need not appear at court." Tom murmured thoughtfully. "If he can keep you from being there, he's won."

"You really think he'd do that, Tom?" Deva asked, eyes wide, as the others behind her gasped.

"He can try, but it won't be happening." Nick spat.

"No, it won't." Tom agreed coldly. "Because Doo's not leaving my sight."

Doo spun around in his chair and stared at his friend in shock. _'Oh, Gods... I don't have anywhere for him to sleep...'_ He realized numbly.

"Great. This means I don't have to worry about Doo anymore." Nick said brightly, slapping the Dark Lord on the back, then grinning in response to his glare.

"You're sure, Nicholas?" Gloria Ripley asked her son.

Nick nodded. "Marvolo's not one of ours, and nor does he have the best disposition in the universe, but you couldn't ask for a better bodyguard. Between Inda and Marvolo, _nothing_ is getting to Doo."

"Do you have a death wish, Ripley?" Tom growled.

"No, but I _do_ enjoy pissing you off." Nick replied.

Deva let out a moan while Doo grabbed a couple of sherbet lemons and tossed one at each man. "Cool it, both of you." He ordered.

Tom scowled at the sherbet lemon that had hit him while Nick popped his in his mouth. "Why throw _these_?" The Dark Lord whined.

"They were the closest things to me." Doo replied with a shrug as the people in the shop watching them laughed.

"Tomorrow, you're sitting on the other side." Tom decided.

"Next to the bubblegum?" Nick asked, giving the Dark Lord an incredulous look. "Are you insane?"

"Yes." Tom replied with a straight face. Nick blinked at him a few times before cracking up.

Doo rolled his eyes. "Was there anything you all came from?"

"Yes." Radolf spoke for everyone. "We wanted to know the town's behind you, not Palmer. Also, do you need a lawyer?"

"No." Doo smiled faintly at where Tom and Nick were throwing insults back and forth. "Tom's already got his working on it."

"I'll have Peter drop by tomorrow." Tom offered, returning his attention to the rest of the room after silently hexing Nick's mouth shut.

"Two o'clock." Radolf decided and looked around him for agreement.

"I'll make sure he's here." Tom promised.

"Very good." Radolf nodded his head to Doo. "Stay safe, Dooley."

"You too, Radolf." Doo replied, watching the procession leave his store.

Tom walked over to Doo while Deva went to check on Nick, and unhex him. "Quite popular, aren't you?" The Dark Lord inquired, tugging on Doo's ponytail gently.

"The town's always been pretty close. No one here was ever very fond of Zack. Perhaps because he was a big time lawyer from Glasgow, and no one really likes that sort." Doo sighed, glancing up at Tom. "I don't have anywhere for you to sleep."

"What size is your bed?" Tom asked with a touch of amusement.

"Eh? King size. Why?"

"Then I'll just share it with you, hum?"

Doo's cheeks flared with a blush. "I...I guess."

Tom frowned. "Or I could transfigure something into a bed and sleep there."

The younger man sighed and rested his head against the elder one's abdomen, shocking the Dark Lord. "No, you can sleep in my bed. Probably the best way to protect me, anyway." Doo murmured.

Tom slipped his arms around Doo's shoulder, pushing them together gently. "Are you tired?"

"Mm."

**:I think he is.:** Inda offered.

"Right." The Dark Lord leaned over and picked Doo up gently, smiling at the faint sound of annoyance from the green-eyed man. "Perhaps this day has been just a _little_ too exhausting, hm?" Tom inquired of no one.

"Taking him up to his room?" Deva asked quietly.

"Yes." Tom agreed. "Did you get Ripley unhexed?"

"Yes, I'm unhexed." Nick growled softly. "Cheater."

"Slytherin, actually." The Dark Lord corrected before taking the stairs up to Doo's flat and into the Forgotten's bedroom.

Doo had been truthful when he'd said the place looked like a war zone. There were clothing, books, and papers strewn everywhere, including a pair of pants hanging from the ceiling fan. Two red wardrobes, three blue plush chairs, four small wooden tables, a white desk, a black desk chair, a small yellow bookcase, four floors lamps of varying colours, and the green-sheeted king-sized bed crowded the room. The walls were hung with paintings and the desk held pictures of all of Doo's friends, including one of Tom himself, which the Dark Lord could not recall being taken. One corner had a pile of stuffed animals of all sizes in it, and one small, stuffed white owl sat on the bed, watching the doorway with sharp eyes. A laptop lay closed on the desk, in front of the pictures, a pile of papers next to it in a small bin. A desk lamp took up any remaining space on the desk.

Deciding to ignore the mess for the moment, Tom stepped up to the bed and laid Doo down. He tugged the younger man's shoes and socks off, sending them to their rightful places with a quick spell, before tucking him under the covers. **:Keep an eye on him while I clean this place up.:** He hissed to Inda, who had slithered out from under Doo's shirt and had curled herself up on the pillow Doo's head rested on.

**:Of course, Tom.:** Inda agreed.

The Dark Lord nodded and pulled out his wand. After cleaning out a spot for himself on the floor by pushing the mess to one side, he closed his eyes and cast a powerful Cleaning Charm on the entire room.

Doo, who hadn't quite been asleep, watched with wide eyes as the room cleaned itself up. Clothing either folded itself and flew into his wardrobe, or threw itself into the dirty clothing box. Papers neatened themselves on the desk as the photos shifted so none were hidden behind any others. The book shelf straightened itself and the books that hadn't fit before and been piled on top or strewn about the room found places, only a few being left on the top, but being left there neatly. His pile of stuffed animals neatened itself up, looking presentable in a way that Doo could have never managed. His paintings straightened themselves as a dusting rag flew around to dust them all.

"Wow..." Doo whispered once everything had calmed down.

Tom glanced at him over his shoulder. "I thought you were asleep."

"No, not really..." Doo sat up, hugging his stuffed owl to his chest. "That was awesome, Tom."

The Dark Lord shrugged. "Cleaning Charms aren't my specialty, but it is always a good idea to know how to do them well. They can be damn useful."

"Why didn't you use one yesterday on your room?" The Forgotten inquired curiously.

Tom sat down on the end of the bed with a faint sigh. "Two reasons, really. One, I needed to do something physical-"

"Like stubbing your toe on the bed post?" Doo interrupted teasingly.

"It got me to calm down, didn't it?"

"Actually, it got you to curse pretty colourfully. Were you a sailor in a previous life?"

The Dark Lord smirked. "Probably not, but I did work on a ship for a couple of years when I was younger."

"You were a member of the crew?"

"Yeah. I needed the money." Tom nodded.

"Okay. What was the other reason?"

"Hogwarts, as I said, is very magic concentrated. What I did here wouldn't have been quite as effective at the school because of the levels of wild magical resistance." Tom explained.

"But, wouldn't that put a hamper on the students' magic?" Doo inquired worriedly.

"Hogwarts generally keeps the wild magic from interfering with school work, but one'll find it much more difficult to fight or play magical pranks there than they would anywhere else, since the wild magic would interfere."

"So, Hogwarts is alive and only lets you do things it thinks you _should_ be doing." Doo said.

"Yup." Tom grinned. "I've forbidden the house-elves from visiting my private bedroom, so you could say the free roaming wild magic in there is Hogwarts' complaining that I won't give her servants some extra work."

Doo giggled. "But you could have managed _something_, right?"

"Of course." Tom nodded. "My Cleaning Charm there would have acted like the Cleaning Charm of any normal witch or wizard in their own house."

"Even if their house were in, say, Hogsmeade?"

"That's the wonderful thing about owning your own house, it will use the wild magic at its disposal to _help_ you, rather than _hinder_ you." Tom smiled.

"Cool..." Doo said before yawning rather widely.

The Dark Lord chuckled and stood. "Why don't you get dressed for bed while I go make that firecall to Peter?"

"Okay..."

-

Tom and Nick were bickering in the living-room of Doo's flat while Doo and Deva were making lunch for five in the kitchen. Wormtail would be there any moment and they planned to have some sort of nourishment for the two hours they had until the meeting with the townspeople who had visited the day before. Tom had mentioned that they'd need to use the time to fill his lawyer in on everything, and, possibly, argue with him a bit about doing a case for a Forgotten.

"You cook better than I do, Doo. It's making me slightly jealous." Deva teased as Doo took the sweet potatoes off the stove.

"It's how I've managed to live so long on my own." Doo replied, wiping at his brow gently with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Sit for a fev minutes. You haff been up all morning." Deva ordered, pushing the Forgotten into a chair that she'd conjured earlier.

Doo sighed and did as she said, watching as she worked with the swedes carefully. "Between you, Nick, and Tom I won't get a _chance_ to stress out over _anything_ for the next _month_."

"It's vat you get for trying to kill yourself." Deva responded without remorse. "And you are going to sit and bare it or I'll _make_ you bare it."

"Ouch. I should go tell Tom you're threatening me. It's causing me _stress_." The green-eyed man shot back, blowing a single thread of white hair out of his face. The rest of his hair had been pulled back tightly and covered with a black bandana to keep it out of the food.

There was a crash from the living-room, then the two in the kitchen heard Tom say, "Perfect entrance, Peter. We were just starting to get bored."

"Oh, this can simmer for a bit yet." Deva groaned. "Let's go check and make sure Tom doesn't lash out at poor Peter because he's pissed at Nick."

Doo sniggered, but stood and followed the witch into the living-room. "Oh, come on, Tom. If you feel the need to hex someone, I think you should hex Nick." The Forgotten offered as he saw the wand pointed at Wormtail, who looked terrified. Tom let out a snort and put his wand away.

The rat Animagus turned to thank his saviour and froze, mouth and eyes widening in shock. "Merlin..."

"What now?" Tom snapped at his lawyer.

"_Harry!_" Wormtail squeaked.

Tom spun to look at Doo, who looked completely confused, and his own eyes widened. "Fuck..." He hissed, sitting down heavily on the loveseat.

"What's going on?" Nick demanded, dark gaze shooting back and forth between the two Dark Wizards. "And why are you calling Doo 'Harry'?"

"That's not possible!" Deva cried suddenly from behind Doo. Doo spun to look at her and his confusion doubled when he saw tears in her eyes. "He vas supposed to be dead! Peter, you must haff made a mistake!"

"Would one of you _please_ tell me what's wrong!" Nick shouted.

"He-He's Harry Potter." Wormtail finally said, pointing his finger at Doo.

Doo turned to look at Tom slowly, green eyes filled with sadness at the horror he found in the scarlet ones before him. "...no..." He whispered before fainting.

-

-

**A/N:** I feel like leaving you all with a cliffie again. -cackles- It's fun!

-

_**Thanks to:  
**_**_LJ:_** timydamonkey, firebird157, sev0109, mysticalmaiden, mneiai, sdrana, celestialspy, slythenigma, eaivalefay, abrighterdawn, emeralddragon, _and_ tinkerpixy  
**_FFN:_** JadedSecrets, Naked!Tom Whore, rosiegirl, caliadragon, XXRoseDawsonXX, tessa3, dmweasley, antares520, Alana Hikari-chan, Linker27, Earth Magician, cammy, fudgebaby, Gecko, Mynona, Lady of the Serpentine, Lilith91, iamtherealmaverick, one crazy voldie lover,_ and_ Childe-of-the-Waves

**Naked!Tom Whore:** Considering my "obsessesion" with Tom isn't much better, no, not really. -laughes-  
-snort- The chapter's already written, so, no, I won't take the explainations out. Though, really, I'm not too fond of that chapter... Maybe I could find the time to re-write it?  
-evile cackling- Ooooh... I know! A threesome! Voldie/Albus/Harry!  
Well, you kinda got half-naked!Tom both last chapter and this chapter... -grins- As for fully-naked!Tom? No clue. Haven't gotten that far yet.(And, no, I'm NOT telling you how far ahead I've written... -.-)

**rosiegirl:** -chuckles- I don't mind the occassional "please hurry up and update", only the obsessive ones, or the ones when they for get the "please". -winks-  
Meehee. Albus/Harry. Meehee...

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** -bounces around happily- Gift! Gift!. -hops off with gift to show it to her beta-

**tessa3:** Oh, yes, everything will be interesting when Doo regains his memory... -evile cackle-  
Snake plushie!. -happy-

**Earth Magician:** Yes, most people would be there longer after a suicide attempt, but you've got to remember that this is the Wizarding World. They have potions that heal things faster than Muggle bandages. And magic. Magic is a big factor here.

**Gecko:** No, Zack isn't Draco. -laughes- We'll find out where Draco is next chapter.

**Myona:** His not being able to talk to snakes has more to do with his losing his memory than his losing his scar. Think along the lines of surpressed magic and Parsel being a magical gift. -winks-  
Inda. -laughes- I spelled it right with one try!. -sticks out tongue childishly- No, it's not easy to spell. I'm trying to remember what language it is... -shrugs- Japanese, I think, but don't quote me on that. It could be German.(I have a tendency to use random words from random languages for names... Opps... -grins-)  
Dude, if Syna and Inda could understand each other they'd rule the world!.  
-nods- Inda will end up proving useful later on. Her perspective of things is quite different from that of a human's, so, yes, she'll prove to be a good friend to Doo.

**Lady of the Serpentine:** You're close. The spell didn't block their magic, but it did surpress it. Less accidents, you know.

**Lilith91:** No, sadly. No twins. -sob- They're two of my favourite characters, after Voldie and Harry, of course. I would have brought them in, but I felt they'd prove a bit more useful dead than alive.(Not the total reason, but close enough...)

**iamtherealmaverick:** -laughes and shakes head- Oh, no! I don't mind if people ask me to update, just as long as they don't demand it(please is a good word. One should always use it) and they don't pester me continuously. The pestering was what was getting to me.  
Mee... You're making me blush. -winks-

**Child-of-the-Waves:** Well, here's both the meeting of Peter and the finding out who Doo was. So, what do you think? Was it funny? Or scary?

-

Batsutousai


	8. Seven: Harry Potter Lives

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** The school bus driver knows who your kid's got a crush on. Do you?

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_"Doo's memory flashes"_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** I started not liking where this chapter was going half-way through. -sighes-  
However, as apology for the cliffie, not only is this early(see bottom for _real_ reason for it being early, please), but it's also _long_!

-------------------

Chapter Seven  
Harry Potter Lives

-------------------

'_Oh, Merlin, how come I couldn't see it? Who else has those green eyes! Who else was as powerful as me! Who else spoke **Parseltongue**, for crying out loud! Only him! Only ever Harry! I ignored every goddamned sign! I believed he was just another random Light person! So what do I do? I go and fall in **love** with him! Tom, you complete and utter **idiot**! Only **you** could muck things up **this** badly! Only **you**!'_

**:Tom? Tom, what is it:** Inda begged, slithering up the Dark Lord's leg.

**:He's alive, Inda. Harry Potter's alive.:** Tom replied dully, glancing around at the others in the room. Nick and Deva were seated on the couch. Wormtail was seated in one of the plush armchairs while he sat in the other. Doo - no, _Harry_ - had been moved to the bedroom. Nick had already called the meeting with the townspeople off, saying Doo had fainted from stress.

**:So? You're the all powerful Dark Lord. Kill him again.:** Inda shot back sharply.

**:I _can't_, Inda:** Tom hissed back, trying not to cry. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen.

**:Why not? It's not like he has his wand or anything, idiot. He's defenceless, and asleep, to boot! Just go _Avada Kedavra_ him and move on with life.:** The snake grumbled

**:I-I can't kill him because I _love_ him, Inda.:** The Dark Lord whispered. **:Damn me for being human. Damn me for having _feelings_:**

**:If you love him, why does it matter who he is:** Inda asked in a much softer tone.

**:Because we're _enemies_! We're out for one another's blood!_ AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES. _Remember that prophesy? Hm:** Tom replied bitterly.

"But you _did_ kill me, right?" A soft voice asked from the doorway to Doo's room. Four heads shot up to stare at the man in the doorway. His green eyes were dulled with sadness. "Or have you not been living these past ten years?"

**:You tricked me:** Tom hissed at Inda furiously as the serpent slithered quickly to Doo's side.

"I told her to." Doo sighed. "Don't blame Inda for listening to me." He rubbed at the bridge of his nose wearily. "Not to be rude or anything, but I'm officially kicking everyone but Tom out of my flat. As for you, Tom, you may stay, or go, as you please." He decided before disappearing back into his bedroom with Inda.

"My Lord?" Wormtail whispered.

"Go. I'm staying here." The Dark Lord muttered calmly. "Potter and I have things to discuss."

Nick stormed over to the Dark Lord's chair and punched him hard in the face before anyone could stop him.

"Nick, no!" Deva cried, running forward and pulling her boyfriend back to keep him from punching the Dark Lord again.

"What did I tell you, you fucking bastard! What did I say four days ago to you! Have you no brains! No heart!" Nick screamed, fighting Deva and Wormtail's grips on his arms to get at Tom again.

For Tom's part, he was just staring at the blood that was dripping into his hand from his bloody nose. Suddenly, like a tidal wave, his fury rose in him and he stood, magic radiating out from him and healing his nose. "So kill me Nicholas Ripley. Kill me if you can." He said in a deadly voice.

"Oh, for Christ's sake. What are you all, five?" Doo groaned, walking up to them all as if the tension in the air didn't affect him. "You, sit down and cool it." He ordered Tom, shoving him back into his chair, before looking at the others, who all looked startled. "Peter, the fireplace is over there. Move it. Nicholas, the door is that way. You have until the count of five to get out of my flat before I fire you. Deva, please make sure he doesn't come back to do something else foolish?"

"Of course." Deva nodded, pushing Nick towards the door as Wormtail took the Floo out. "Oh, and Harry?" The witch said suddenly, glancing over her shoulder at Doo.

The green-eyed man blinked at her dully. "Do you have to call me that?"

Deva smiled. "Take care." She offered before pushing Nick the rest of the way out of the flat and closing the door behind them both.

Doo settled himself on the loveseat and watched Tom quietly for a long moment before speaking. "All I know about Harry Potter is what I've been told by Inda. No one mentions him anymore, and I think he would have preferred it that way. A quiet existence in an out of the way town with only a few good friends. Perhaps my dislike of public attention is stemmed from my life before the war? Perhaps I hate the media because Harry Potter hated the media."

"You talk of him as if he were a totally different person." Tom grumbled, frowning at the man across from him.

"Well, isn't he?" Doo replied. "I have none of his memories, at least, not really. No one looks up to me here, except, perhaps, the kids who buy candy at my shop. No one expects any amazing things out of me. Harry Potter and Dooley Tarrant are two totally different people."

"In the eyes of the public, perhaps." Tom replied. "But to the people who have actually known you before and after can see all of the similarities. They're obvious."

"Perhaps not so obvious as one would like to think. After all, _you_ didn't recognize me."

"You're supposed to be dead!" Tom shouted, slamming his fist into the arm of his chair. "You _were_ dead, damnit! I checked! You weren't breathing! Your spirit had left your body and was rising up! Your heart was dead! You were _dead_!"

"I don't know how I survived, Tom. I may have known once, but I don't anymore. If you want answers, you must find a way to get them yourself." Doo sighed wearily, closing his eyes.

Tom let out a heavy sigh. "There is a way."

"But?" Doo opened his eyes to look at the man.

"Well, there are two ways, actually. I could either break the spell on you, or I could just jump into your mind myself and find out that way." The Dark Lord raked a hand through his hair. "I don't like either idea, though. To give you back your memories would make you a danger. And your Occlumency rivaled only mine or Dumbledore's. Not that _that_ is surprising... He _was_ the one who taught you..."

"Tom, hear me out for a moment, okay?" Doo whispered. He waited until he had the Dark Lord's full attention before continuing. "I haven't seen much, but I like the Wizarding world as it is. I don't want to change this government, really. You're doing a good job, thought I _do_ think you need more vacations." Tom smiled briefly at that. "But didn't you just hear what I said? I _like_ not having any expectations. I _like_ living out of the eye of the media. I _like_ my little candy shop and my little town and my small group of friends. I don't want to change any of this. Ever... Well, maybe I'd like to change one thing..."

"What?" The Dark Lord asked sharply.

Doo shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you, because it has nothing to do with your government and, therefore, is no threat to you."

Tom stared at Doo for a long moment, weighing the options, before he finally spoke again. "I want a Wizard's Oath."

"A what?" Doo blinked in confusion.

"I want a Wizard's Oath, an oath sworn on your magic, that you'll never try and take over. That you'll never try and demolish what I've worked so hard to build." Tom explained seriously. "If you give me that, I will give you back your memories."

Doo closed his eyes in concentration. In a strong voice, he spoke the magically binding words, "I, Dooley Shannon Tarrant, also known as Harry James Potter, hereby swear on the magic within me, that I will never try and bring down the government of the Wizarding world as it now stands under the control of one Lord Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle. I also swear to help Tom Marvolo Riddle squash the pocket of resistance in Hogwarts and any others he needs help with, if he will accept my help."

Tom stared at the man in front of him in shock as Doo came back to himself. "How did you know about the resistance in Hogwarts?"

"I've been visiting the school every weekend for over a month now, Tom. Anyone with eyes could see the division in the school." Doo snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Do you know who the ring leaders are?" Tom demanded, standing and walking over to the loveseat.

Doo shook his head. "No. But I'll help you find out."

"...right..." Tom pulled out his wand as he seated himself on the couch. "Brace yourself, Mr Tarrant. I promise you this won't be pleasant."

"I should expect not." Doo sighed, resting back against the cushions. "Whenever you're ready, then." He murmured, closing his eyes.

"_Confringo!_" Tom shouted, pointing his wand at Doo.

Doo bit back a scream as the figurative floodgates broke. Memories rushed back, and all the horrible ones seemed to be at the lead. The Dursleys' house burning with the Dark Mark floating above it. Remus, leaping in front of an _Avada Kedavra_ meant for Harry. Mad-Eye and Kingsley dueling a dozen Death Eaters on Grimmauld Place while Tonks dragged him away, both sobbing. McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, Sprout, and Trelawney falling on the front steps of Hogwarts as Snape cursed them from behind. Lucius Malfoy standing triumphantly over Arthur and Molly Weasley's bodies. Bill falling protecting Gringotts with the goblins. Charlie and his friends fighting with the dragons and falling, one by one. Neville and Luna standing together before the Final Battle, sharing one last kiss before they had to charge in. Students of all ages rushing out of the school to meet the attack head-on, determined to never let Hogwarts fall. Albus and Harry walking up to meet a woman neither knew and Voldemort together, then watching Albus fall to the woman.

Doo came back to reality, only to find himself sobbing into Tom's shirt. The Dark Lord was rocking him gently, just as he had two nights before, after he'd woken the younger wizard from his nightmare. "Oh, Gods..." Doo finally whispered. "Oh, Gods, Tom..."

"Shush, shush..." Tom whispered, running his fingers through Doo's hair. "You're fine. You're safe. It's all over now."

"It was a spell." Doo said, focusing on the original reason for breaking the memory block. "Albus created it. It was meant to make the person using it appear dead, when mixed with the Killing Curse, for two hours. It could only be used once in a person's life, and Albus and I agreed I would only fall back on it as a last resort. A way to build a rebellion, undetected. The only side effect was the white hair when you came back to yourself."

Tom nodded, continuing to run his hand through Doo's white locks. "How many people know of this spell?"

"Now? Only me. It takes an extreme amount of power. You, Albus, and myself were probably the only ones who would have been able to pull it off." Doo smiled up at Tom rather suddenly. "You outsmarted us both, Tom. You cast your spell that made everyone forget, and it caught me too."

Tom frowned. "Do you regret that?"

"No." Doo cocked his head to one side. "If I'd started a rebellion, you wouldn't be holding me right now, and I'm too comfortable to want it any other way."

"You foolish child." Tom whispered.

"You shouldn't talk to yourself, Tom. It's bad for you." Doo offered before leaning up to kiss the Dark Lord on the lips. Then he rested his head against Tom's chest again and let the Dark Lord's heartbeat and the soothing action of Tom's fingers combing through his hair lull him to sleep.

-

"My Lord?"

Tom cracked an eye open and blinked at the head in the fireplace. "What do you want, Syna?" He growled, glancing down to make sure Doo was still sleeping.

Syna blinked at the two on the couch. "Deva and Nick came to me an hour ago, told me the vole thing. You didn't kill him?"

"No. I made him give a Wizard's Oath to behave, then let him have his memories back." The Dark Lord sighed. "Don't you dare wake him up."

"Of course not, Lord." Syna bowed her head. "I'll let Nick and Deva knov, then, so ve can untie Nick."

Tom's lips quirked up into a smile. "Serves him right for punching me."

Syna bit her lip, smiling. "Vould you like one of us to drop by later, my Lord?"

Tom thought about the request for a moment before shaking his head. "No. If Doo feels up to it when he wakes, we might come to Hogwarts, but I would like you three to remain there, for now. Look into that rebellion some more. Include Ripley if you feel he might be useful. Muggles notice things we don't."

"Understood, my Lord."

"And tell Nick that if he ever punches Tom again, I'll do worse than just kick him out." Doo added groggily.

"You're awake." Tom murmured, glancing down into green eyes.

"Mostly." Doo agreed. "We'll probably be at Hogwarts in an hour, Syna."

"Very vell. Don't overvork yourself, Doo. If Dulcie gets even the slightest bit suspicious, you'll be back in the Hospital Ving faster than you can say Voldemort."

"The woman's worse than Madame Pomfrey. I swear." Doo grumbled.

Tom laughed. "Yes, she is, isn't she?"

"I shall see you both in an hour or so, then." Syna said before popping out.

"How are you feeling?" Tom inquired gently.

"My head's spinning and I've got to use the bathroom, but, hey, I've felt worse." Doo replied cheerfully.

"Gryffindors." Tom snorted, getting a laugh out of the wizard on top of him. "Go on, then. Use the bathroom. Or can you not stand?"

"I said my _head_ is spinning, not the _room_." Doo snorted, rolling his eyes and getting up off of the Dark Lord. "You make a good pillow, by the way."

"_Really_?" Tom shot back sarcastically, getting up to stretch. "Ow, my back."

"Old fart." The pale-haired man teased before closing the door to the bathroom behind himself.

"Yes, he's feeling better." Tom decided with a faint smile. "Old fart indeed."

"Well, you're, what, eighty-five? Eighty-six?" Doo replied through the door. "You're fifty-four years older than me. Of course you're an old fart."

"I'm going to regret giving you back your memories, aren't I?" The Dark Lord groaned.

The bathroom door opened as the toilet flushed. "Yup." Doo agreed, swallowing a pill. "I may love you, or something, but that's not gonna keep me from tormenting you constantly."

"Only _you_ would have the balls to, not only do such a thing, but also admit to it." Tom pointed out with an annoyed look.

"Duh. I'm the only one who'll ever be a threat to you." Doo pointed out, stalking up to the Dark Lord and placing both of his hands on Tom's chest gently, looking up into scarlet eyes. "Did you mean it, earlier, when you said you loved me?"

Tom smiled and rested one hand against the side of Doo's face. "Yes, Dooley Tarrant, I meant it. I _do_ love you, and Merlin only knows why." He leaned down and kissed the pale-haired man gently. "It's Harry Potter I don't like." He added with a smirk.

Doo laughed. "Tom, you're _horrible_! You just ruined the mood!"

Tom kissed Doo's forehead. "Sorry, love."

Doo blinked a few times in surprise before resting his head against Tom's chest again, letting out a content sound when the Dark Lord wrapped him in an embrace. "I could get used to this, you know?"

The Dark Lord chuckled. "Don't get too used to it, Mr Tarrant. We have to be at Hogwarts in fifty-five minutes."

Doo reached up and tapped at Tom's forehead. "Have you got a clock in there or something?"

"Yes." Tom replied in an even tone.

Doo grinned. "Sure you do, Mr Riddle."

Tom shook his head. "Marvolo."

The shorter man cocked his head to one side thoughtfully. "Alright. Mr Marvolo it is." He smiled faintly. "It makes sense, I suppose. You really didn't like your father. The less memories the better."

"You have this amazing ability to understate _everything_." The Dark Lord complained.

Doo laughed. "You've changed."

"Hm?"

"From the Voldemort, and even the Tom Riddle, I knew before the war. You've changed, a lot." Explained Doo.

"I'll have to take your word for that." Tom decided. "After all, you knew me best."

"Which was odd, since I was your enemy."

"Perhaps not so odd, actually." Tom shook his head. "What's that Muggle saying? Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer?"

"True." Doo grimaced. "I don't think there _could_ have been anyone closer than us during that war. We kinda lived in one another's heads."

"Noticed that, did you?"

Doo poked the Dark Lord's stomach. "Oooh, you _are_ horrible, Tom!"

Tom smiled dreamily. "You know, now that you know who I am, I can have everyone go back to calling me Lord again."

"Not me." Doo declared. "I'll be calling you Tom for the rest of your life."

"_That_ does not surprise me, Dumbledore."

"Hey! Do I have blue eyes that twinkle!"

"No. They're green, instead." Tom replied with a laugh. "But we both know he was the only one who called me Tom every time he saw me."

"Don't I get _any_ rights?" Doo demanded.

"For what? Being a thorn in my side for twenty-two years?" Tom teased, grinning.

"No, you dick, for winning your undying affection, of course!"

Tom laughed. "Yes, yes, you may call me Tom." He ran a hand through Doo's hair. "But _only_ you, unless we're in the Muggle world, of course, then I'll _have_ to use Tom… Damnit." He scowled darkly.

Doo tugged the Dark Lord's head down for a kiss. "Your fault."

"Hush, you."

Doo laughed. "Let me go so I can pack a few things, right?"

"Oh, alright…" Tom sighed and let the younger wizard go. Then he followed him to the bedroom, leaning in the doorway as Doo pulled out a duffle bag and started packing it with his stuff. "Where did you get the paintings? Some of them look vaguely familiar."

Doo blinked up at the painting directly over his head and pointed to a signature on the bottom. "I made them. They're from my memory flashes. See, this one's the Gryffindor common room."

Tom's eyes widened as recognition dawned. He glanced around at the other paintings. One was of the battle ground on the Hogwarts' grounds from above. Another was a picture of a court room with faces leering down at the chair in the centre, where the artist had, no doubt, been sitting. There was a picture of the Headmaster's office as it was during Albus' time there. There was a picture broken into seven different parts that depicted the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, each block belonging to a different teacher. Another picture was of the Weasleys' home, the Burrow, with different Weasleys hanging out in the garden and looking out of the windows. There was another painting of the Slytherin common room from the view point of a Gryffindor: dark and gloomy. Then, last, but not least, there was a painting of himself as Voldemort, red eyes blazing with hatred, standing over a nameless Muggle in the middle of casting the Killing Curse.

"By Merlin…" Tom whispered, running a finger over the ball of green blazing at the tip of his wand.

"You were a true horror back in the old days." Doo said in a distracted voice. "I saw that image once in a memory flash and had to paint it. That was the first one, actually."

"It's amazing." Tom murmured. "I didn't know you could paint."

"Nor did I. Must have been ability that just got crushed under everything else I did perfectly." Doo muttered darkly. "Damnit, where'd I put that shirt!"

Tom glanced over at the younger man and smiled. Doo was tearing through his wardrobe, throwing articles of clothing on the floor in a haphazard manner. "Well, now I know how that pair of pants got on the ceiling fan." The Dark Lord teased.

Doo flipped him the birdie quickly. "I'm trying to find my lion shirt. Either help me, or shut up."

Tom rolled his eyes and held out a hand. "_Accio_ Doo's lion shirt."

Doo glanced up quickly enough to watch his red shirt fly from the dirty laundry box into the Dark Lord's hand. "Oh, yeah, magic…"

Tom wrinkled his nose in distaste. "A gold lion on a red shirt? Please don't wear this around me."

Doo snorted and held out a hand. "Toss it here."

The Dark Lord cocked an eyebrow at the green-eyed man. "No. Call it to yourself."

"Tom, I haven't used any magic in ten years! You can't expect me to suddenly call something to myself! That's a fourth year spell!"

Tom folded his arms across his chest. "You have too been using magic."

"What? I have not!"

The Dark Lord rolled his eyes. "Flying a broomstick takes a certain amount of magic, you know."

"Once!"

Tom smirked. "And, you do understand, of course, that those memory flashes were caused by your magic fighting my spell, right? It hasn't been dormant for ten years, Doo." He waved the shirt in the air. "Summon it."

Doo sighed and closed his eyes. "Tom, please just hand me the shirt."

"What are you afraid of, Potter?" The Dark Lord shot back.

Green eyes flew open and the red shirt flew into his outstretched palm, cleaned and folded. "I'm not afraid of anything." He grumbled, turning to put the shirt in his duffle bag.

Tom smiled. "What did I say?"

"You may now leave." Doo growled darkly, tugging a pile of un-hung paintings out of the second wardrobe and shrinking them magically before stuffing them in his bag.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom. When you're done, meet me in the living-room." Tom said calmly before turning and leaving the room.

Doo let out a heavy sigh and finished packing his stuff. He threw the duffle over one shoulder, then picked up Inda, letting her drape over his shoulders. "We're leaving early. Wonder why."

**:I think he wants to go to his base for something.:** Inda hissed sleepily.

"Do you think he's mad at me?" Doo asked the snake in a whisper.

**:No. He was just giving you time to calm yourself. You might want to wear a robe, by the way.:**

"Oh, yeah." Doo glanced down at his bright blue shirt with a rainbow on it and his faded blue jeans. "I guess I'll just transfigure this then…" He waved his hand in front of himself and smiled as the Muggle clothing melted into a flowing blue robe with rainbow trim. The blue was bright at the top, then faded down to the colour of his jeans, ending with a strip of white at the bottom, which covered his stocking feet. "That's a really cool effect, actually…" He murmured, stepping out into his living-room.

"How'd you do that?" Tom inquired curiously. He'd changed into black robes which billowed out around him aggressively.

"I just transfigured my shirt and jeans. Didn't really have a specific colour in mind, so this is what I got." Doo replied easily.

"I like it." The Dark Lord offered Doo a quick smile before turning serious. "Is it alright if we make a quick stop at my base before we go to Hogwarts?"

"Sure. Are we Flooing there?" The pale-haired man agreed, tugging out his hair-tie and fixing it, since it was coming loose.

"Yes, but we'll have to Floo together." Tom nodded.

Doo blinked a few times. "Any particular reason? I thought only Muggles or small children had to Floo with someone else."

"That's generally true, unless the place you're Flooing into is protected." Tom agreed. "My base is set up so that only certain people can Floo in alone, and only myself or Syna can Floo another person in with us. I'll have to add you to the list of people who can Floo in, but you'll have to go through the Floo once first, so it gets your signature." He explained.

"Mm. Good safety measure." Doo decided, nodding. "Should I shrink my bag, then?"

"Probably a good idea." Tom smiled. Doo grinned and shrunk his bag, stuffing it into a pocket, before stepping up to the Dark Lord, who was standing next to the fireplace. "Right. Arm around my waist, Mr Tarrant. Make sure you hold on tight."

"Sure thing, Mr Marvolo." The pale-haired man agreed brightly, snaking his arm around Tom's waist. Before the Dark Lord could toss in a pinch of power from the jar on the mantle, Doo leaned up and kissed his jaw.

Tom scowled down at the mischievous green eyes. "You will not do that at my base."

"Of course not. Nor will I do it around the majority of Hogwarts. You _do_ have an image to keep, after all." Doo replied with a wide smile.

"Monster." The Dark Lord grumbled before tossing the Floo power into the fireplace and stepping into it. "Slytherin Manor!"

There was a rush and swirl of fireplaces, then, after a sweep of magic, both wizards were spat out into a dark receiving room.

Doo let go of the Dark Lord to dust himself and Inda off. "Cheerful place, Milord." He offered in an offhanded manner.

Tom tugged on Doo's ponytail with a smirk. "Scared, are you?"

Doo shot the Dark Lord a cold look. "You wish."

Tom spared a laugh for that before turning serious and drawing himself up to his full height. He was every inch the Lord Voldemort feared by the Wizarding world, now. "Let's go, Tarrant." He growled before sweeping from the room.

Doo followed the Dark Lord quietly, reaching up to stroke the snake on his shoulder. _'This is the Dark Lord of children's nightmares. This is that man parents tell their children will come and get them in the night if they don't behave.'_ He thought with a mental sigh. _'This is the man I spent most of my life fighting, and have now fallen head-over-heels in love with. Dooley, what have you gotten yourself into **this** time?'_

"My Lord. You're back." A voice called from in front of the Dark Lord. Doo almost recognized the voice, but poked his head around Voldemort to make sure.

"Only for a few moments, Lucius." Voldemort purred dangerously. "I hope everything has been kept under control?"

The blonde nodded firmly. "Everything has been smooth during your absence, my Lord."

**:He's lying.:** Inda hissed in disgust.

Lucius' gaze shot over to Doo and Inda as the Dark Lord narrowed his eyes at the Malfoy. "And who might you be, young man?" Lucius inquired of Doo coolly.

Doo mentally made a note of how he'd changed with his memories as Harry Potter returned even as he narrowed his eyes at the man instead of shrinking back unsurely. "Dooley Tarrant. You're Lucius Malfoy, as I recall."

Lucius' eyes flashed at Doo's tone. "I don't know any Tarrants. You must be a _mudblood_." He sneered, filling the word 'mudblood' with venom.

"Actually, he's a Forgotten." Voldemort cut in sharply. "Lucius, you know I dislike liars."

Doo smirked as the blonde broke into a sweat. "My Lord, I apologize, but it is under control." Lucius murmured, bowing his head.

**:...Close enough.:** Inda agreed after a moment of tasting the air.

**:Thank you, Luv.:** Voldemort replied before turning back to Lucius. "It's in your best interest, I think, if I never find out how you've messed up this time, don't you agree, Lucius?" The Dark Lord purred.

**:I don't think he's mad at me anymore.:** Inda hissed over Lucius' response. Doo smiled faintly and went back to stroking the cobra gently.

"Come on, Tarrant." Voldemort ordered before starting off again. Doo hurried after him, smirking at Lucius as he swept past the blonde.

Once out of Lucius' sight, Doo pulled even with the Dark Lord. "Where's Draco?" He inquired curiously.

Voldemort glanced over at him. "Your friend, Ms Riddock, put him out of commission before I could deal with Potter."

"Humph. Knew she could do it." Doo responded coolly.

The Dark Lord allowed a faint smile to pass over his face before turning serious again. "Anyone else you're curious about?"

"Sure. Pansy Parkinson."

"Ms Turpin took her out, as I recall."

"Good. She was annoying. What about Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Goyle the elder is Headmaster of Hogwarts. His son and the younger Crabbe were killed by Lucius when both went off on how great it was Draco was gone. The elder Crabbe is in charge of the Department of the Regulation of Dangerous Creatures, since Macnair was killed in your seventh year by Aurors." Voldemort replied emotionlessly.

"Hm. How about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Doo inquired coolly, curling one hand into a fist at the thought of the woman.

The Dark Lord touched Doo's shoulder briefly before answering. "That Metamorphmagus Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, she took Bella out. Saying something along the lines of 'For my cousin, Harry, and Neville, you bitch', as I recall."

Doo smiled. "Tonks is a Forgotten?"

"No."

Doo's gaze shot around in shock. "She's dead, then?" That didn't seem right. Tonks was clumsy, yes, but she was damn clever, and too good an Auror by the Final Battle to have died in it.

"No, she's still alive, but I couldn't make her a Forgotten. Her Metamorphmagus abilities would have given her away immediately." The Dark Lord replied.

"Then where is she?" Doo whispered, half afraid of the answer, but needing to know.

"Dungeons." Voldemort said with a shrug. When Doo shot him a sharp look he scowled. "What did you _expect_ me to do with her? There was no way she'd ever help _me_!"

Doo let out a sigh. "Let me talk to her before we leave."

"Fine, but I doubt it'll do any good." The Dark Lord grunted.

"Tonks is my _friend_, Milord. It won't hurt to try." Doo pointed out tightly.

"Yes. Fine. Okay." Voldemort muttered. "I'll take you down after we visit the library."

"What's in the library?" Doo inquired.

"You're lucky I happen to like you, Mr Tarrant." Voldemort replied before stepping through a set of double doors.

Doo followed him in and froze in the doorway, eyes wide with shock at the large, circular room. Rows upon rows of books, covering a large assortment of subjects, stood three stories high, broken only by an alcove that held a circular staircase that led up to the upper two levels. Rolling ladders were attached to the shelves on each level, to minimize the need to _Accio_ books. Comfortable chairs were spaced out around the main floor with a side table placed next to each. There were a few Death Eaters pulling down books or reading in the chairs, but they only looked up long enough to bow to the Dark Lord and give the man's guest a quick look-over before returning to whatever they'd been doing.

"Hermione would be in heaven..." Doo murmured.

Voldemort cleared his throat impatiently. "Now, Tarrant."

"Sorry, Milord." Doo replied, quickly walking up to where the man had stopped next to the alcove for the staircase.

The Dark Lord pulled out a key ring and unlocked a door in the wall of the alcove that Doo hadn't noticed originally. "In." He ordered, holding the door open for the shorter wizard.

Doo slipped in and glanced around in the faint illumination that came from spelled lights in the various glass cases that had been placed around the room. The pale-haired wizard stepped up to the closest glass case and looked inside, eyes widening as he realized what it was. "Albus' wand... By the Gods..."

"I kept all the ones I could find." The Dark Lord agreed in a relaxed tone, tugging on Doo's ponytail. "Yours should be around here somewhere."

Doo glanced up at the Dark Lord in surprise. "Are you actually letting me have it back?"

Voldemort smiled faintly. "I'd rather _not_ have people wonder who you are, love. If you continue to use wandless magic, they will wonder."

Doo nodded and glanced around. "What about Tonks' wand?"

The Dark Lord let out a helpless sound. "Fine. I'll get it. But if she refuses you too, I'm snapping it. She gets no more chances."

The green-eyed man nodded in resignation. "Understood." He glanced around curiously. "How am I supposed to find my wand in this mess, Tom?"

"Hm?" The Dark Lord glanced up from where he was pulling out a willow wand. "It will call to you. Just concentrate."

Doo glanced at Inda and cocked an eyebrow at her, getting a serpentine laugh from her. _'Why the hell not.'_ The wizard decided, closing his eyes and concentrating on his old holly wand. Immediately, he felt a mental tug from his left somewhere, so headed towards it carefully after opening his eyes to keep from running in to any cases. When he finally stopped, he found himself staring at his old wand and smiled. "Found it, Tom."

The Dark Lord stepped over to him and unlocked the case with his key ring. He pulled out the wand, wincing slightly, and handed it to his companion. "There you are." He murmured, locking the case back up.

"What's wrong?" Doo asked, concern seeping through his voice, as he used a wandless spell to strap his wand to his right arm.

"That wand of yours doesn't like me." Voldemort replied, glancing at the hand he'd used to pick the wand up with. There was a small burn on his palm.

"Sorry..." Doo took the hurt hand gently and kissed the burn before leaning up to kiss the Dark Lord. Voldemort responded harshly, forcing his tongue into Doo's mouth. Doo's tongue met the other muscle head on and dueled with it for control. The small war was decided as a draw when both participants had to draw back for air.

Voldemort tugged Doo into a hug, resting his chin atop the shorter man's head. "This is going to be a bit difficult, with both of us being dominants and all."

Doo chuckled and closed his eyes. "Oh, we can trade off."

The Dark Lord gave a particular vicious tug to Doo's ponytail at that. "We'll figure it out later. For now, I think you wanted to speak with Tonks?"

"Mm." Doo pulled away from the Dark Lord's grasp and offered him quick smile before making his face emotionless. "Lead the way, my Lord."

"I could get used to this." Voldemort teased before taking the lead out of the room of wands, through the library, and back into the hallway. There, he turned left and led the way down a ways to a darkened staircase where Marcus Flint stood guard.

Marcus bowed to the Dark Lord, watching Doo out of the corner of his eyes. "My Lord is going down to the dungeons?"

"Both Mr Tarrant and I are, yes." Voldemort agreed coldly.

"Shall I stay here, my Lord?" Marcus inquired calmly.

"Yes. Let's go, Tarrant." The Dark Lord said before sweeping off down the stairs. Doo ignored Inda's laughter and followed the scarlet-eyed wizard down into the chilled dungeons.

**:He's having fun ordering you around, Doo.:** Inda sniggered.

"Hush, you." Doo shot back in a whisper.

Voldemort stopped before a cell. "Good evening, Ms Tonks." He offered in a cold voice. "You have a visitor."

"I don't _want_ any more visitors, you fucker." The witch spat, rattling her chains as she turned away from the door. Her dark hair hung around her face in tangles and her skin was covered in bruises, scars, and scabs. Her clothing had been ripped more than once and hung from her shoulders limply.

Doo shook his head in shock. "Open the door, Tom." He ordered sharply.

Deadened grey eyes turned to stare at Doo, who froze. "Who are you?" Tonks asked.

Doo shook his head to clear it of memories as the Dark Lord opened the door quietly. "Dooley Tarrant, Tonks, though you once knew me by another name." Doo offered, slipping into the cell.

"And that was?" Tonks shot back suspiciously.

Doo cocked his head to the side as he let Inda down. "You look like Siri. I assume you did it for a reason?"

Tonks startled, then narrowed her eyes. "Why do you call him that?"

"Hum?" Doo settled himself on the floor in arm's reach of the witch, if she moved forward a bit more. "Oh, because you and Remus always used to call him that after his death." He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I suppose it finally wore off on me, you know?" He smiled.

Tonks inched forward uncertainly, squinting her eyes. "Light?"

Doo rose a hand between them. "_Lumos_."

Tonks blinked down at the wandless light for a brief moment before looking up into the wizard's eyes. She rose a hand to touch Doo's cheek gently. Rather suddenly, she launched herself into Doo's arms with a sob. "Harry!"

Doo wrapped his arms around the Metamorphmagus, silently ending his wandless spell. "I'm here. It's alright now." He murmured.

"Albus said you'd be fine. He said to believe in you, so I did. You're really here. You're really alive." Tonks whispered, clinging to the pale-haired man.

"Yes." Doo agreed before glancing over his shoulder at the scowling Dark Lord. "What's that look for?"

"Nothing." Voldemort replied darkly.

Doo cocked an eyebrow at the man, but didn't enquire further. "Can you unchain her?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Harry, don't..." Tonks begged, glancing up at the smoldering rubies watching them.

"It's alright, Tonks." Doo murmured, smoothing her hair with a free hand before turning back to the Dark Lord. "Why not?"

"I do not unchain prisoners." Voldemort replied coldly in English before switching to Parseltongue. **:We've already had this talk, Doo. If you can get her to agree not to fight against me and help me instead, I will free her. Until then, she stays chained.:**

"Even if you lock the cell door?" Doo demanded.

"I am not locking you in there with an Order of the Phoenix member who still has their memories!" The Dark Lord shot back furiously, not even bothering with Parseltongue, since the other refused to go along with it.

"You seem to have forgotten that I was the co-leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Tom." The green-eyed man responded coolly.

"_You_, Mr Tarrant, have sworn not to cause trouble. _She_ has not."

"Harry? You swore your wand to him?" Tonks whispered, horrified.

Doo let her crawl away from him and watched her pull back against the wall with sad eyes. "I swore a Wizard's Oath to not try and destroy his government, yes." The wizard agreed calmly. "I have no problem with the current government of the Wizarding world, Tonks. I see no reason to start another war to change something that's working so well."

"You're not the Harry Potter I remember." Tonks murmured, shaking her head.

"No. Of course, I've spent the last ten years not remembering any of my life as Harry Potter. I only got my memories back this afternoon." Doo explained gently. "I see things very differently from how I used to."

"I told you this was pointless." Voldemort growled. "Get your arse out here."

"Shut up." Doo shot back over his shoulder coldly before looking back at Tonks, eyes filled with sadness. "Tonks, please, Tom agreed to let you free, but only if you can promise not to try and take down his government. He'll give you back your wand and everything. Just, please, agree not to do anything foolish." He whispered sadly.

"I will not, in any way, bind myself to that-that...that _thing_!" Tonks screamed.

"Doo, get out here." Voldemort ordered coldly.

Doo stood and stared at the Dark Lord pleadingly. "Tom, please..."

"No. This was a foolish idea and I should have said no at the get-go. Get out here."

"Tom..."

"Now, Dooley." The Dark Lord hissed furiously, pulling out Tonks' wand. "Let's go. I have to snap this before we go back to the school, and we're running late."

Doo shook his head helplessly. "Tom, Tom, _please_!" Voldemort took one end of Tonks' wand in either hand. _'I can't loose Tonks!' _Doo closed his eyes and used his last weapon against the furious Dark Lord. "If you love me, you won't do that." He whispered, opening his eyes.

Neither wizard noticed Tonks' gasp as Voldemort froze and stared into tear-filled green eyes. "You will not use that against me." The Dark Lord spat, but he put the wand back into a pocket.

Doo took a deep breath, keeping his eyes locked with Voldemort. "Tonks, would it be alright if you bound yourself to _me_ instead of Tom?"

"I-yes... That would be okay, I guess..." Tonks murmured.

"Tom, is that alright with you?" Doo asked the man across from him.

"You will be taking the heat for her." Voldemort pointed out.

"I am aware of that."

Scarlet eyes searched green eyes sharply for a long moment before he nodded. "Then I agree. She will have to listen to you."

Doo nodded and turned to Tonks, who was standing against the wall. "Tonks?"

The witch nodded her head. "What is your name in the Muggle world again?"

"Dooley Shannon Tarrant." Doo replied softly. _'Why does this remind me of the Order inductions?'_ He thought helplessly. He hated having people _literally_ bound to him, always had, but this was the only way to save his friend.

Tonks took a deep breath. "I, Nymphadora Black Tonks, hereby swear on the magic within me, that I will follow the instructions of Harry James Potter, also known as Dooley Shannon Tarrant, in regards to the government of the Dark Lord Voldemort."

Voldemort nodded in agreement to the Oath and, with a wave of his hand, the shackles on the witch disappeared. "I assume you're planning on dragging her with us to Hogwarts." He grumbled to Doo.

Doo smiled at the Dark Lord as he drew Tonks into a hug. **:Thank you, love.:** He hissed softly before smiling brightly at Tonks, who replied with a much smaller smile. "Here, let's see what we can do about these rags."

Tonks let out a long-suffering sigh. "Nothing. They're completely destroyed."

"Do one of your fancy transfigurations." Voldemort suggested, idly casting Cleaning Charms at both of the people in the cell.

Doo cocked an eyebrow at Tonks. "That okay?"

Tonks shrugged. "Whatever." She stepped back so the younger man could get a good look at her.

Doo blinked a few times at the old battle robes she still wore. They were a dark grey with a single flaming red phoenix set over her heart. "Right..." He murmured before waving his hands in front of the woman. Both Tonks and Voldemort watched in amazement as the ragged robes bloomed. The dark grey became smoky and gathered a pattern of moving flames that reached upwards to Tonks' waist. A phoenix slid in and out of the flames, occasionally moving above the fire to fly through the smoky sky. The sleeves, hem, and neck were tattered in a manner that one could have found on a younger Tonks, before the war.

"Doo, if you ever get sick of your candy shop, I insist you apply to be the Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts." The Dark Lord breathed.

"No, no. Become a robe designer." Tonks suggested. "Make a name for yourself in the Wizarding world that way."

The Dark Lord stared at Tonks in amazement as Doo laughed. "No, no, she's got a good one. It would allow you to keep your precious candy shop, but it would also give you the ability to move through the Wizarding population as you need. You could, literally, go _anywhere_. You'd have to, to offer your new fashions."

Doo looked between the Dark Lord and ex-Auror. "Oooookay! Tell you what, we'll discuss this at the school and get everyone else's opinions, too. Tom has a good point, we're running late. Syna's going to wonder if we tried killing one another over something stupid." The green-eyed wizard said, leading Tonks to the cell door.

Voldemort shrugged and held out Tonks' wand for the witch to take. "Syna can panic all she wants. It's fun to watch."

"You're horrible." Doo snorted, picking Inda up and draping her around his shoulders.

"So you say." Voldemort agreed. "Now both of you do me a favour and at least _pretend_ you can act civilized until we get to the school?"

"Of course, my Lord." Doo said seriously, before turning to Tonks. "Might I suggest changing you appearance so you're not noticeable as yourself?"

"Oh! I've been Siri for so long that I nearly forgot!" Tonks said before concentrating really hard. Her hair shifted from black to blonde, her eyes from grey to gold. Her skin darkened considerably, giving her a tanned look. "Better?" She inquired in an contralto pitch.

"Much. I think we're ready, my Lord." Doo nodded.

"Stay behind me." Voldemort ordered, sparing Doo a sharp look, before he turned and led the way from the dungeons.

"Shall I call you Doo now?" Tonks asked softly.

"Yeah." Doo smiled. "It's best if it doesn't come to light that I'm not really dead, don't you think?"

"Probably true." Tonks grinned and tugged on a lock of Doo's hair. "I like this colour."

"Oh, yes. It's very white." Doo agreed with the air of one stating an obvious observation. Tonks rolled her eyes.

"My Lord." Marcus' voice floated past the leading Dark Lord. Doo grabbed Tonks' nearest hand in his own and winked at her. Tonks slid a little bit closer to the pale-haired man with a small smile as they all moved past the dungeon guard. Marcus narrowed his eyes at Tonks and Doo.

Inda shot a dark look back at the Death Eater, rising up from her position on Doo's shoulder. **:I dare you to say something, you scum.:** She spat at him.

Voldemort glanced over his shoulder at the serpent and found the two males glaring daggers at one another and Tonks standing _extremely_ close to her saviour. "Tarrant! Black! Now." He growled, shooting Marcus a warning look.

"Apologies, my Lord." Doo replied evenly, leading Tonks away from the hostile Death Eater guard.

**:He smells funny.:** Inda muttered, settling back down on Doo's shoulder.

"Funny, how?" The green-eyed man murmured as they got on their way again, reaching up to stroke the reptile on his shoulder.

**:Untrustworthy.:** Inda responded.

Doo nodded with a frown. "I see..."

"What's wrong?" Tonks inquired softly.

"Inda, the cobra on my shoulder, she says Flint smells untrustworthy." Doo said, glancing over at her.

"The rebellion..." Tonks nodded.

Doo narrowed his eyes. "When we get to Hogwarts, I'll talk Syna into keeping Tom busy. You tell me what you know about this rebellion."

Tonks paused to think about this, then nodded. "Right."

-

"My Lord, do you mind if I borrov you for a moment? Severus and I had something to shov you." Syna said when the conversation they'd all been having had started to die down.

"Yes, yes." The Dark Lord stood with a weary sigh and glanced over at Doo. **:You're staying here:**

**:Yeah. I'd probably only get in your way, after all.:** Doo agreed, smiling faintly. The Dark Lord nodded and followed Syna from the room. Once the door had closed behind the two leaders of the Wizarding world, Doo turned to Tonks. "Tonks, what do you know about this rebellion?"

"She knovs about the rebellion!" Deva hissed.

"What rebellion?" Nick scowled.

Tonks snorted. "The rebellion some of the Death Eaters are planning." She said. "They're tired of being ordered around, so they're working on finding a way to overthrow Voldemort."

"How the hell do they plan on ruling without Voldemort around!" Nick hissed. "I don't like the man, but even _I_ can see he's the whole reason this government is working so well!"

"They don't like that he has alloved the Muggleborns into Hogvarts, for one." Deva sighed. "They do not like that he is not folloving through vith the reasons he started the Dark Order."

"And they don't like that he made the Forgotten out of the fighters of the Light." Doo sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"No, they don't." Deva agreed. "And there are probably more reasons that ve are not thinking of, too."

"Idiots." Nick growled. "They _want_ civil war?"

"Yes." Tonks nodded. "They want to take down the government and rebuild it."

"Do you know who the members of this resistance are, Tonks?" Doo murmured.

"No. They always wore masks." Tonks replied with a sigh. "They had meetings in the dungeons because they didn't think Voldemort would find them, and that we, the prisoners, might help them with stuff."

"You didn't, of course." Deva growled.

"No." Tonks shot the other woman a cold look. "Just because I don't like Voldemort means I'd sink so low as to help _Death Eaters_ take over."

"Enough." Doo murmured, not looking at the women. "Inda, you said Marcus Flint smelled untrustworthy. Have you noticed any others that smell like that?"

Inda glanced up from her position on the rug in front of the fireplace. **:I do not recall any, no, but I have rarely left Tom's rooms.:**

"That's what I was afraid of." Doo sighed. "If it's not too much trouble, could you slither around the school and see what you can find out for me? Especially listen for conversations about this rebellion?"

**:Yes. Stay out of sight, right:**

"Right. Any other snakes you might find that have masters either on our side or who have no masters at this school will also be helpful."

**:On it.:** Inda replied before slithering from the room through a crack in the wall.

"She knovs nothing?" Deva sighed.

"She's looking." Doo responded. "She's normally left in Tom's rooms, you know, so she doesn't get the chance to see, or smell, much."

"Of course..." Deva ran a hand through her hair before shooting the green-eyed wizard a piercing look. "Come on, then. Spill. Vat did you and our Lord do after you kicked us all out?"

Doo smirked. "We talked, I gave a Wizard's Oath to behave, then we took a nap. Nothing exciting."

"Oh, come on, Doo." Nick sighed. "You've always filled me in on what all you did with Zack when I didn't want to know. What all have you done with the jackass?"

Green eyes twinkled mischievously. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He responded, making Tonks laugh.

"Vat are you four up to?" Syna inquired, stepping back into the room with the Dark Lord and another dark-haired man.

"Snape! You fucker!" Tonks shouted, standing furiously.

Doo grabbed Tonks' waist and tugged her down into his lap. "Calm down. Now." He ordered. The woman stopped struggling against his hold and settled for glaring at the potion maker.

Severus cocked his eyebrow at the witch in Doo's lap. "A Muggle friend of yours, Mr Tarrant?"

Tom smirked, settling in the now-empty chair next to Doo. "Sit, Severus." He suggested. He waited until the black-eyed man had sat on the other side of the room before speaking again. "Ms Tonks is here because Doo requested her freedom."

"What!" Severus shouted, staring at the dangerous gold eyes across from him.

Doo smiled around the witch in his lap. "See, Tom, you're not the only one who knew me for almost a decade and wasn't able to recognize me."

"That's just because you're nothing like the Harry Potter we knew before." Tonks offered, waving one hand idly.

Tom snorted as Severus gaped at the green-eyed man. "That look is most undignified, Mr Snape."

Severus' mouth slammed shut. "You're dead." He said after a moment of silence to Doo.

"Really? I thought I was still breathing." Doo teased, eyes glittering.

"Why the hell aren't you causing a ruckus!" Severus shouted. "Why aren't you running off to help the rebellion! Why are you still here!"

"Because he has sworn a Wizard's Oath to not do so." Tom said softly. "That's enough shouting."

"And Tonks has sworn a Wizard's Oath to listen to me." Doo added. "So, Severus, you can consider us allies and stop glaring."

Syna gave a discreet cough when Severus didn't stop glaring at Doo. "Doo, my Lord says you haff svorn help against the resistance?"

Doo nodded, turning to the witch. "Yes. Why?"

"Then ve can all trade our observations. Tonks?" Syna gave the Metamorphmagus a piercing look.

"I will help Harry." Tonks replied coldly.

Doo smiled and resting his head on Tonks' shoulder so he could see everyone in the room. "All right?"

"Fine." Severus growled, leaning back in his chair. "Tonks, why don't you get your own chair so that Potter-"

"His name, Severus, is Dooley Tarrant." The Dark Lord cut in fiercely. "If you call him anything else, I'll _Crucio_ you."

"Tom..." Doo groaned as Tonks seated herself on the arm of his chair.

"You said it yourself. Harry Potter is _dead_." Tom replied, looking at Doo.

"And he is best off staying that vay." Deva agreed, resting a hand on Severus' arm. "You haff alvays gotten along vith Doo up till nov. Vy start fighting just because you did not like vo he _vas_?"

"I like that gal." Tonks murmured to Doo. Doo grinned.

**:I have information:** Inda called, sliding back into the room.

"What...?" The Dark Lord frowned at the serpent, then looked over at Doo.

Doo smiled at Tom. "We sent Inda out to see what she could find out while you were gone, Tom." He glanced at Inda. "Well?"

**:Lucius Malfoy is the leader. He was in the dungeons with that idiot Headmaster and a group of sixth and seventh years. They're planning an attack tomorrow, I think.:** Inda said, curling up in front of the fire.

Doo and Tom traded startled looks. "I _told_ you I never liked the man." Doo growled, sitting back with a dark look.

"Uhm, would one of you two _please_ tell us what Inda said?" Tonks inquired, poking Doo's arm.

"Lucius is their leader." Tom said shortly. "Goyle and a group of older students were planning some sort of attack for tomorrow."

**:Sounded like they already had it planned and were just meeting to fine tune the details.:** Inda added.

Tom narrowed his eyes at the fire. "But, if they already had it planned, they would have had to meet before this, which means we should have known already."

"Why's that?" Nick asked, leaning forward.

"Severus and I have been taking turns vatching Goyle." Syna explained.

"But could Goyle haff found out you vere vatching him and found a vay around it?" Deva inquired.

"No. We've been watching them in our Animagus forms, neither of which are registered." Severus shook his head.

"Unless he's found out your Animagus forms." Doo murmured, rubbing at his chin. "Severus, I know you're a bat. Syna, what are you?"

"Black cat." The Deputy Headmistress replied.

Doo nodded. "Nick, can you watch the store without me there tomorrow?"

"Eh? Yeah." Nick blinked. "Why?"

Doo looked at Tom. "If you give me a portkey that will get me back into the building tomorrow, I'll run surveillance."

"And Voldemort can stay at the shop with Nick and me." Tonks nodded. "Perfect. He'll never guess _your_ form, Harry."

"What is it?" Severus asked, frowning.

Doo smirked. "You'll see."

-

"So, what _is_ your Animagus form?" Tom inquired that night. They were back at Doo's flat. Nick had gone home and Tonks was staying with Deva. They'd all stayed at the school long enough to have dinner, then said their goodbyes and returned home. Inda had remained at the school with plans to keep an eye on Goyle for the night.

Doo smiled over his shoulder at the man on the bed. He was working on his laptop at his desk. "It's black, and it has wings."

"Doo, I'm not playing twenty questions with you."

"Aww. Why not?"

"Tarrant." The Dark Lord growled, narrowing his eyes at the younger man.

Doo let out a resigned sigh and, with a 'pop', disappeared. A small black ball of feathers took off from the chair Doo had been sitting in and settled lightly on the top of Doo's wardrobe to preen.

Tom stood and stepped up to the wardrobe with an amused look. "Not very noticeable, gets around quickly, and flies. Why am I not surprised?" He chuckled, holding up an arm for the tiny owl, which flew down to him and stared into his eyes. Tom reached up with his free hand and started petting the bird, smiling when it let out a pleased hoo.

Suddenly, the owl hopped from Tom's arm and changed back into Doo while in flight. The green-eyed man grinned. "Tonks, Hermione, Albus, and McGonagall helped me with it, so they're the only ones that knew I even _had_ an Animagus form, let alone what it was."

Tom's eyes widened as he realized something. "All those times I saw a small black owl flying around during a battle or a meeting, that was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Doo inclined his head.

The Dark Lord shook his head in amusement. "Perfect. If anyone notices you, they'll think nothing of it. Just another owl delivering mail."

Doo smirked. "Ah, but Tom, I can do something neither Syna nor Severus can do."

"And that is?"

"I can perform spells in my Animagus form."

Tom's eyes widened. "Are you _really_ needed to run Sherbet Lemon? Are you _sure_ I can't steal you for information gathering?"

"Only twice a week and on the weekends, Tom." Doo replied, shaking his finger in the Dark Lord's face. "I have to be here sometimes, you know."

"Well, damn." The Dark Lord sighed.

Doo laughed. "I'll see what I can find out tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, yes."

Green eyes glittered with laughter. "Oh, come on. Let's get some sleep."

"Right."

-

-

**A/N:** Meh. I don't really like this chapter, personally. It is where most of the questions I've been asked are answered, though, so I suppose it's important. -sighes-

Dude, part of this chapter wasn't written on this computer. I finished reading over the chapter one last time, searching for mistakes, and found...nothing. A big blank space. So I had to boot up my school laptop and type up eight or nine lines so I could actually post this.(I can tell this is the first Harry Potter fic I've spell checked on this computer, you know. I just had to add every single name/word to the dictionary... -.-)

Also, you're all getting this chapter early because my schedule for this week is going to be insane. I prefer updating from home, but I have to work all day Sunday, on Monday I'll be at school and a Girl Scout meeting all day, and on Tuesday all be at the school all day. Hense, you get this today, for it's the only free day I'll be having for the rest of the week. -.- I hate concert weeks...

_For all the reviewers:_ The fact that Peter was the one to recognize Doo first wasn't as difficult to figure out as you might have thought. Kudos to Cloe for being the only person the catch the black bandana that Doo had been wearing over his white hair that day. -hands over a large plate of brownies to Cloe-

-

_**Thanks to:  
**_**_LJ:_** Cloe, timydamonkey, dairygirl, abrighterdawn, vampsarecool, marksangel4eva, sdrana, mneiai, slythenigma, sev0109, orderofchaos, tinkerpixy, Morauko, mysticalmaiden, eaivalefay, mynona, ettykay, carya, _and_ celestialspy  
**_FFN:_** dogmoon183, Naked!Tom Whore, AngelLovePhoenix, rosiegirl, Alisteal-Rayne, Linker27, tessa3, peacockgal17, XXRoseDawsonXX, marina, JadedSecrets, Ebony Moonlight, Agnei Smith, fudgebaby, Fiery Pheonix, antares520, Revange, atalante, Lilith91, Kuri Kuromori, Valore, SlashableAmaryllis, Child--of-the-Waves, Gldnlqr, dmweasley, chin5cai, Enelen, HellsBitch, Earth Magician, Rion, caliadragon, Uninformed, Lady of the Serpentine, _and_ gravitation gig

**Naked!Tom Whore:** I have figured it out! I call you "Naked!Tom Whore" because I cannot spell "Iridescent" -checks spelling 18 times- to save my life! Heh.  
All the time? You have too much faith in me! I can only resist having a naked!Tom _most_ of the time!.  
-falls over laughing- Definitely putting up that Albus/Harry once it's done being written, then. -sniggers-  
_No_, I'm not going to tell you how far ahead I am. I'd _really_ have readers banging down my door then. -.-  
You won't be the only one killing Tom if he fucks up their relationship, trust me. In fact, we might just have to form a line...

**AngelLovePhoenix:** Cookies!. -points to new chapter- It's early. Can I have the cookies now? -pleading look-

**Linker27:** You're not an idiot, hun. That caps lock is a sneaky little thing...  
Thank Merlin, my cold is finally gone. However, now I am suffering from allergies, which is nothing new, really. -.-  
Real Life needs to leave well enough alone, yes. I'm dying for summer break. It seems so far away... -sob, sniffle-  
Yes, you were rambling, but it made me feel better. -winks-

**tessa3:** -falls over laughing- You know, I can almost imagine myself having a chat with someone that went something like that, too. That was great! Thank you for the laugh, hun. -holds out a batch of cookies-

**peacockgal17:** Just as long as you didn't break any of those walls while you were bouncing off them, everything should be fine.

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** -is eyeing gift- Damn you readers. You've found my weak point... -smiles brightly- Next chapter is right here! Can I have gift now?. -desperately hopes it's a good, old fashioned headache cure-

**marina:** You've got it in one. Doo still hadn't figured out that Tom was, in fact, Voldie. Now he knows, of course, but things are all sorted out.  
No, I don't have a habit of killing off main characters. I've done it, but it's not a habit you'll need to be concerned about, really. -winks-

**JadedSecrets:** Meeeee! Ego boost!. -luffs back-

**Ebony Moonlight:** -falls over laughing- I love you too. -amused look- I'd been wondering where you'd gotten to...

**Fiery Pheonix:** Well, really, only the Forgotten were supposed to forget stuff. Everyone on the Dark side retained their memories, Peter was just the first to recognize Doo.  
Doo can handle _plenty_ oh stress!. -evile smirk-

**Lilith91:** Well, it's good to know _someone_ is filling the twins' spot!. -grins- He'll probably continue to fill their place, too. And, now, we've added Tonks to the mix, which is always good for some laughes.

**Kuri Kuromori:** No worries, I'll continue calling him Doo for quite a while yet. Unless we have a typo, which wouldn't surprise me. I keep _trying_ to call him Harry, damnit... -.-  
Meh... I want a snake. I keep trying to talk my mum into it, since I could take it to college with me, but she's rather skeptical... T.T  
Reviews are my life's blood. -winks-

**SlashableAmaryllis:** I'd wondered where you'd gotten to!. -amused look- That's at least two people that last chapter has dragged out of the void of real life. I think that's my favourite chapter now. -winks-  
Oooh... Real Life is such a bitch sometimes. I totally understand. -hugs-

**Child-of-the-Waves:** O.o Abandon Tom _does_ shove his head up his arse far too often, doesn't he?. -amused look- I never really noticed that. -laughes- Well, hopefully The Forgotten Tom won't be quite so stupid. -coughs- But I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you. He tends to snap at people when he loses his temper.

**Gldnlqr:** Doo fainted mostly because he'd heard from Inda that Tom hated Harry Potter with a passion. He didn't want to lose the relationship they'd been weaving. Bit of a shock, especially with everything else that had happened recently.

**Enelen:** Well, since you said _please_...  
-laughs- I think you've already advertised it. What's the title? Author?. -is curious now-  
-amused look- Ah, see, but I put hints in other responses. And answer questions one doesn't always think to ask. Reading the other responses can be a _good_ thing...

**HellsBitch:** Aw, thanks, hun. I did post a bit of a teaser for Abandon on my LiveJournal, and I've got a bunch of people handing out suggestions over there. Perhaps that chapter will be out sooner than expected. -winks-  
Well, it was more like the sudden shock of it. Peter isn't the sort to think things through, he's a Gryffindor. He's more likely to blurt something out than think about it.  
You poor thing. Real Life is such a drag.

**Earth Magician:** -chuckles- Well, I hope the hair question's been answered for you in this chapter. -winks-  
I figure that since they'll pretty much have him under 24 hour surveillance, Dulcie decided it was okay to send Doo out. And the big things that were upsetting him were being handled... -hums- Anyway, in my opinion, a sterile, very bright room isn't the best place for someone to recover from a suicide attempt. Maybe that's just me. Really, if they'd tried keeping me in a hospital for psychological treatment, I'd throw a fit. Of course, perhaps that's just me. Everyone's different.

**Rion:** O.o Really? Well, I suppose FFN has now figured out that many authors and readers can see Tom and Voldemort as two different people. -hums- Suppose I'll have to update a few things, then. -winks- Thanks for the heads up. Never would have noticed that, else.

**Uninformed:** I'm evil because I'm a Slytherin, of course. -chuckles- Sorry about the cliffy, luv. Does this chappie make it all better?

**gravitation gig:** Thank you!. -amused look- But, really, isn't once a week often enough for updates?. -laughes-

-

Batsutousai  
A.K.A. Bats


	9. Eight: The Power Over the Dark

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** Ha ha! Ha! You- Hahahaha... You think I **_own_** Harry Potter! HAHAHAHA! That's **FUNNY**! I haven't heard one that good in FOREVER! -snorts in amusement-

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** I'm not fond of the name that I picked for this chapter, but I have nothing better to name it, so…. -headdesk-

FINALLY! It took me three days to update this because FFN's been down since the 30th(And it's not like I have much freetime to update anyway, damn job... -.-)

-------------------

Chapter Eight  
The Power Over the Dark

-------------------

Doo followed the Headmaster around the school all of the following day. The man appeared to have little better to do than wander around to various classrooms and _wink_ at the teachers and various students. Doo made a note of the action even as he slid through his memories of his past for a way to get a message to the Dark Lord quickly without letting Goyle out of his sight. During the war, he'd had a mirror similar to the one Sirius had given him in his fifth year to keep in contact with Albus.

'_I suppose I'll hope I can send something through Severus, then. He or Syna would have to have a way to get in contact with Tom quickly, no matter where he is. Since Severus sits so far away from Goyle, the man won't be able to read over his shoulder and find out what the message says.'_ Doo mused as Goyle headed for his office at last. _'I only hope Severus **has** a way to get in contact with Tom.'_

"What took you so long?" Lucius Malfoy spat as Goyle stepped into the office.

"I had to make sure everyone was ready to move after lunch." Goyle growled, settling himself behind his desk.

'_After lunch!'_ Doo's eyes widened as he settled on a picture frame.

"Very well." Lucius leaned forward in his chair and met Goyle's gaze coldly. "Where is his Lordship, anyway?"

"With that idiot Muggle friend of his." Goyle sneered.

"Perfect. Do you know the name of the city they're in?"

"I heard Syna and Tarrant discussing it two weeks ago. It's a small neighborhood just outside of Glasgow." Goyle agreed.

"Good." Lucius leaned back in his seat with an evil smile. "Taking down Voldemort, that pesky Muggle, and Vladislav at the same time as we finally continue our noble cause of ridding the world of scum. A most brilliant plan, Goyle."

"Thank you, Lucius." Goyle chuckled.

Doo let out a silent hoo of horror. _'By Merlin! They're going to attack the whole town! That court case won't even **matter** if we don't stop them!'_

"Are your people ready?" Goyle asked suddenly.

"Yes. I'll have them start moving in on the neighborhood immediately." Lucius stood. "You just make sure Snape and Krum aren't suspicious."

"They won't even be _awake_, let alone suspicious." Goyle replied.

'_Screw this! I've got what I need!'_ Doo growled mentally, flying down to follow Lucius from the office.

"They'd better not." Lucius hissed in response to the Headmaster before slamming out of the office.

Doo flew for the dungeons at top speed. He had to get to Severus. The Potions' Master would, hopefully, know what to do.

-

Tom sat behind the front counter with a glum expression, watching the pouring rain just on the other side of the large glass store windows. He'd caught Nick watching him with an odd look once or twice, but he couldn't bring himself to snap at the Muggle for staring, and there wasn't any way he was going to ask the idiot anything in a polite voice if Doo weren't around to keep him from snapping Nick's head off.

A sound behind them made both Dark Lord and Muggle glanced over their shoulders to look at the door to the office. Tonks, disguised as Doo, stood with a pile of papers in one hand and an annoyed look on her face. "Have either of you any idea how to read this shit?" She shook the pile of papers at them, scowling furiously when a few sheets got free and danced around in the air until they greeted the ground at her feet.

Nick bit his lower lip to keep from laughing. "Nope. Sorry, boss, but you know I'm not allowed in your office." He offered in a forcefully even voice.

Tom snorted. "Most brilliant thing he's done yet." He waved his wand discreetly, calling the loose papers to him, as Nick had a coughing fit to hide his laughter. With a sigh, he glanced over the papers, then shook his head, holding them back out to Tonks. "They're different than what I'm used to. I do my business differently."

"Right." Tonks sneered. "Should have known better than to ask _you_ about paperwork. _You_ just kill everyone."

The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Watch it, Tarrant. I _really_ don't need a reason to take anyone's head off right now."

"Oh, go on out and do your Muggle killing act, your _Highness_. None of _us_ will mind." Tonks shot back, papers forgotten in lieu of taking her aggravation out on the nearest target.

"Whoa, whoa." Nick's gaze shot quickly back and forth between the two arguing people. "Guys, please stop."

"Stay out of this." Tonks and Tom chorused before returning to glaring at one another.

With a helpless sigh, Nick gave up on self-preservation and stepped between the two half-bloods. "Listen up, as senior employee and the person who happens to know Doo the best, I'm telling you two to cut the crap before I'm forced to take drastic measures." He sent Tonks a sharp look. "You, office. Stay in there and shut up." Then his gaze shot to the rather smug-looking Dark Lord. "You, outside until you can stop moping and snapping at people."

"You can't orde-"

"Out, Voldemort."

"This is an ou-"

"I _said_, out."

With a look that could have curdled milk, Tom stood stiffly and walked out of the store. "Damn Muggle. Thinks he can order _me_ around." He grumbled, casting a minor water repelling charm on his clothing. Assured that he'd be somewhat dry, the Dark Lord slipped out from under the overhang in front of Sherbet Lemon and into the pouring rain. _'Where to?'_ He thought, glancing around the street as he walked away from the shop.

His decision was ripped from him when a friendly voice called out to him from ahead. "Mr Marvolo!"

Tom paused, watching as the young woman ran up to him. She was soaking wet, an umbrella held closed in one hand. "Miss Riddock. This is a pleasant surprise." He murmured politely.

Hertha Riddock smiled brightly. "I've been looking for a chance to speak to you."

"Oh?" Tom cocked an eyebrow at the Forgotten curiously, and perhaps with a _little_ concern.

"Yes. Dooley speaks so well of you. Could I borrow a bit of your time?" Hertha agreed, brown eyes gleaming with mischief. Tom thought it looked oddly out of place on the young woman he'd once fought against.

"I-" Tom glanced back over his shoulder at the Sherbet Lemon and heaved a great sigh before smiling thinly back at the Forgotten. "Of course. I need something to do, I suppose."

Hertha offered an arm with a smile. "Come, there's an excellent tea shop just down this way." Tom nodded and took her arm, allowing her to lead him off towards the shop she'd mentioned. "Nicholas get into a fight with you?" The woman teased before they entered the shop.

"Yes." Tom agreed, running a hand through his hair and scowling when his hand got soaked. "Bloody storm."

Hertha laughed and led the way to a small round table that was seated in a darkened corner of the shop. "It was rather sudden, wasn't it? I seem to recall seeing that it was supposed to be a gorgeous day today on the news yesterday."

Tom's brow furrowed as Hertha waved an employee over for their order. Once the young woman was gone, the Dark Lord turned his gaze to the window. He stared at the pouring rain with a frown. _'It was a bit **too** sudden...'_ He ran his hand through his hair again. _'Merlin, I hope Doo's okay...'_

"You shouldn't brood so much."

Tom turned back to Hertha. "What was that?"

"I said, you shouldn't brood so much. Not really healthy." Hertha responded softly. Her brown eyes bored holes into Tom's green ones. "What do you do for a living, Tom? Dooley would never tell."

"I'm a sheriff." Tom replied, thinking quickly. "Small town a few hours northeast of here."

"Ah..." Hertha rested her chin on one hand. "Nothing much happens there, I assume."

Tom sighed. "No, not really. The worst on a normal week is someone's stolen bicycle. Rather boring, really."

Hertha smiled. "Your deputy handles things when you're gone, then?"

Tom's false green eyes darkened. "I thought he was, but Doo has helped me find out that he's just been making things worse."

The Forgotten's eyes widened in surprise. "Corruption really _does_ happen everywhere, doesn't it?"

"So it appears." The Dark Lord ran a hand down his face wearily. "Of course-"

"Tom!"

Both Tom and Hertha turned to the door of the shop, as did the rest of the shop, to see Doo standing there, drenched, a light of panic in his eyes. Tom stood swiftly and walked up to him, not really noticing Hertha following him. "Why aren't you at the school?"

Doo shook his head sharply. "Goyle and Lucius have plans to attack the town in, like, an hour."

"_What?_" Tom narrowed his eyes.

"You heard me." Doo snapped, pulling himself back together. "You go tell Tonks and Nick, I'll get to Deva-"

"I've been kicked out of your shop by your little friend." Tom shot back.

Doo opened his mouth to reply when Hertha stepped between the two wizards. "Okay, stop. You're causing a scene."

Doo pursed his lips. "Hertha's right. _I'll_ go to the Sherbet Lemon, then. Tom, you go warn Deva. Hertha, you're with me."

"No." Tom hissed, shooting Doo a sharp look. "We're not including others in this."

Doo leaned forward to whisper in the Dark Lord's ear. "We don't have a choice. Your people are going to destroy this whole town to get to you." He pulled back, eyes hard. "Go warn Deva. Please." He spat, then, motioning for Hertha to follow him, he spun and ran back out into the storm.

Hertha nodded to Tom before running after Doo. The Dark Lord groaned and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. _'Fabulous. Remind me to make Lucius scream for this...'_ He grumbled before hurrying out into the pouring rain to alert his second's cousin.

-

"Oiy, Doo-man." Nick straightened quickly and stared at his drenched boss as the man ushered Hertha in before closing and locking the door. "What's up?"

"The rebellion is attacking the town. Tell Tonks I need her help." Doo ordered over his shoulder as he turned around the open/closed sign.

Nick spun and banged on the office door behind him. "Tonks, Doo's asking for you!"

A head with pink hair and bright purple eyes poked out of the door. "Wotcher."

Hertha turned to look at the mildly amused Doo with wide eyes. "Is that thing human?" She had to know.

Tonks grinned widely while Nick laughed. "Of course I am! Name's Tonks. Tonks Black. Pleasure to meet you, luv."

"Tonks..." Doo rolled his eyes helplessly. "Be serious for once."

"My cousin?"

Doo groaned and buried his face in his hands while Nick and Hertha gave the two once-Order of the Phoenix members odd looks. "No, not _Sirius_, you twit." Doo finally ground out, trying not to laugh.

The door popped open, startling a scream out of Hertha. The Dark Lord scowled at the Forgotten as he forced Deva in before him. "_This_ is why I didn't want to involve your little friends."

"Hertha, it's fine, Tom has a key." Doo told his friend soothingly as he shot Tom a look filled with venom.

Nick gave the Dark Lord an annoyed look while Tonks glared at him furiously. "Shut your trap for once, jackarse." Tonks spat.

Doo held up his hands, shooting Tom a silencing look. "Whatever happened here before you kicked Tom out will be dropped now or, so help me God, I'll curse all three of you until you behave."

"He threate-" Tonks started, pointing an accusing finger at the Dark Lord.

Doo pointed his wand at the Metamorphmagus. "Enough."

Tonks shut her mouth with a snap and ducked behind Nick.

"No wonder everyone listened to you." Tom grumbled before coughing into his hand and ignoring the dark look sent at him by the pale-haired man.

"Tom mentioned something about an attack." Deva cut in smoothly.

Doo nodded sharply. "Lucius and Goyle are sending people to attack the town. Their main target is Tom, as far as I can tell, but they're also aiming for you and myself."

"Why would they aim to kill _you_?" Nick gasped. Hertha was watching everything with wide eyes behind Doo.

"Because he's my friend, of course." Tom shot back coldly.

"They don't knov vo they're facing." Deva murmured. "They are underestimating us."

"What about Snape?" Tonks asked, coming out from behind Nick with a frown. "And Krum?"

"Sleeping Potion. I warned Severus." Doo responded. "He said he'd make sure Syna and he have both taken the antidote before lunch."

"Good." Tom nodded, looking around the room. "There are six of us. I'm not used to working with these numbers. Doo?"

Doo rubbed at his chin. "Tonks, I want you to shift. You know what most of the Death Eaters look like from the war. See if you can spot and neutralize any."

Tonks nodded sharply. "Aye, aye, boss-man." She agreed before hopping over the counter and hurrying out the shop door.

Doo rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on the rule-breaking. "Hertha, Nick, you both know the members of this town rather well. Go out and see what you can do about any strangers, particularly those that look hostile. Get other town members to help you if you can." He ordered the two without the ability, or knowledge, to use magic. "Nick, grab your hat. Some of them might know you."

"Right." Nick grabbed his hat and took off his apron before hopping over the counter. "Come on, Mz Riddock. Lets go save this town."

Hertha nodded faintly. "Of course." She let Nick take her hand and lead her towards the door.

"Hertha." The Forgotten blinked at Tom, who had spoken. "You may not remember, but you've done this before. Keep that in mind."

Everyone but Hertha gave the Dark Lord sharp looks, but Hertha just nodded. "Perhaps you'll explain what you mean by that later." The woman said calmly before dragging Nick from the shop.

Doo shook his head. "I'll never quite understand you, Tom, but so be it." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"Vat vill ve be doing?" Deva inquired.

"Unless you know any good Glamours that they can't uncover, we'll be staying here." Doo muttered.

Deva scowled. "I haff a squirrel as my Animagus form. I can run through this storm and help."

Doo frowned at the Bulgarian for a long moment before nodding. "Go. And be careful, for Merlin's sake!"

Deva rolled her eyes before changing into a small grey squirrel and dashing out the door that Tom held open and into the rain.

"Now what?" Tom sighed, allowing the Glamour on his eyes to fade.

"Now?" Doo pulled out his wand and magicked the shades down over the store windows. "Now we wait."

-

Tonks frowned when she saw a group of people Apparate into the back alley she'd been passing. She paused, letting herself morph into a darker coloured, smaller woman, and stared at the small gathering. With a start, she recognized the elder Goyle in the centre of the group. The man looked huge next to the group of seventh years and teachers surrounding him. He began speaking once he was sure everyone was watching him.

"Today will be a most glorious day! This day will be remembered by the Wizarding World for the rest of time! This is the day we break free of our chains! The day we finish what our once-great leader started! I know we will make our true Lord proud of us on this day! Today is the day that we will begin to take over the world!"

Cheers rose up around them, ricocheting off the walls of the buildings around them and threading through the damp air with a strange sort of ease.

'_Surely the rest of the town heard that!'_ Tonks cried to herself hopefully.

As if in answer to Tonks prayer, town members with rifles, small knives, and kitchen cookware closed in around the edges of the alley's entrance. A squirrel in the shadows next to Tonks morphed into Deva. "Ve'll need anti-Apparation vards." The Bulgarian murmured to her fellow witch.

Tonks pulled out her wand and they started chanting as Goyle started speaking again.

"We will need to be quick. These Muggles aren't expecting us, so this'll be a big surprise for them. However, you know how Muggles are. As soon as they get word that we're here, they'll work to mobilize themselves. Be quick. Be efficient. You've been trained for this, I know you'll do well. No one can stand against us!"

"I beg to differ." A cold voice offered from the head of the alleyway.

Goyle pointed his wand at the single figure who thought he could stop them. "Move aside, Muggle, and perhaps I'll kill you quickly."

Nick merely smirked. "I may be a Muggle, but I'm not alone."

"Aye! He's got us!" Hertha called, stepping forward with the townspeople from the right side of the alley.

"And us!" Deva agreed, leading her side forward, Tonks at her side, still looking like the small, dark-coloured woman.

"You think you can stand against us!" One of the seventh years shouted. "Yer a bunch of Muggles with only one little magical one among ya! I could kill you all with my eyes blindfolded!"

"Care to test that theory, Mr Orwick?" A silky voice inquired from the crowd at the head of the alley before Severus and Syna stepped into sight, wands at the ready.

"You!" Goyle's mouth fell open in shock. "You're supposed to be asleep!"

"Yes, about that." Severus drawled. "You see, a dead man informed me about your little plot."

Goyle's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, as did the eyebrows of many of the people around him. Ghosts weren't supposed to be able to get into the Headmaster's office, and all of their other meetings were warded against the damn things. It shouldn't be possible for a ghost to overhear such a plan.

Severus and Syna traded amused looks. "I think you've confused them, Severus. Hov very rude of you." Syna teased. This comment got a sharp laugh from many of the Muggles surrounding them.

Anger danced in Goyle's eyes and he acted. "_Avada Kedavra_!"

"_Maledictum Deletor_!" The Killing Curse shattered into green sparks just shy of Severus' wide eyes.

"Goyle, you get stupider every time I see you." Came the cold voice of Lord Voldemort as the tall man jumped down from the roof of the building he'd been standing on. If anyone had looked up to where the Dark Lord had just jumped from, they would have seen the slight form of Doo as the man held his wand at the ready to destroy any more Killing Curses, a trick only Harry Potter knew how to pull off.

Goyle turned to his ruler with a cold gaze, almost immediately forgetting to question the spell that only a dead man knew how to cast. "And you get weaker every time I see you! You're going soft _my Lord_." He spat the title at the Dark Lord's feet as if it were a curse to be reserved only for the lowest of scum. Voldemort merely cocked a dark eyebrow at the Headmaster, his lips twitching with amusement as the enraged man continued. "I won't follow a Mudblood anymore! I'll only follow our _true_ lord!"

"And who might that be? Your dead son?" Tonks threw out at Goyle nastily.

The next Killing Curse thrown by Goyle exploded in his own face, followed by fear. Desperately, the man's gaze shot around the filled alley. He ignored the smiling Dark Lord and the Muggles in the mouth of the alley. He ignored the men and women surrounding him and the matching grim smiles on Severus and Syna's faces. "He's dead." He started chanting to himself, gaze frantic.

"Who's dead, Headmaster?" One of the milder seventh years asked with quiet concern.

"Potter…"

"Really, Goyle." Doo tutted as he joined Voldemort on the ground, green eyes unnaturally bright. "Everyone knows dead people don't just come back to life."

Goyle fainted.

As if the thud of the Headmaster's body hitting the concrete were a signal, the group of resistance rose their wands to point at the nearest targets. In response, six wands and numerous Muggle weapons raised to point at the small group. All gazes were hard, ready to kill those that threatened their own. "Forfeit nov!" Syna ordered, voice sharp.

One of the professors dropped her wand and threw her hands up in the air. "I know when I've been beat." She offered. The other staff members and students took her example and threw their wands to the ground.

With no death or blood spilt, the resistance members were led away.

-

-

**A/N:** Yes, we're back to the short chapters again. -sighes- Sorry. I just didn't want to pack this chapter with more crap than I think it can hold.

Another chapter I'm not fond of. -rolls eyes- It moved too fast. Every time I tried to slow it down, though, I got stuck, so this is what we've got. Eh. Gomen.

Now! Bribing time! Wheeee!  
eaivalefay and I were discussing Owl!Doo and I have decided that everyone who reviews this chapter shall get an Owl!Doo plushie! Yes, that means you! Wheeeeeeeee!. -bounces- So! Review, and collect your gift!. -winks-

-

**_Thanks to:_**  
**_LJ:_** firebird157, sev0109, vampsarecool, mneiai, orderofchaos, sdrana, mysticalmaiden, mynona, eaivalefay, cloe, Enelen, _and_ tinkerpixy_!  
**FFN:**_ peacockgal17, Angela Danton, SlashableAmaryllis, Linker27, Naked!Tom Whore, rosiegirl, dmweasley, Maria Rosenfire, Carya, tessa3, antares520, REM, twighlightshadow, Lilith91, deadfeather, XXRoseDawsonXX, sami1010220, Maxennce, ReaderMike, Firehedgehog, Hells bitch, iamtherealmaverick, Dark-Faerie161, Lanhar, michikaru-san, AngelLovePhoenix, _and _Queen Asinoe

**peacockgal17:** Kissy scene?. -hums- We'll see.

**SlashableAmaryllis:** Yeah, it was kinda mentioned...in a _very_ roundabout way. -grins- He was 22 when the war ended. It's been 10 years since the end of the war. He's about 32.

**Linker27:** It's an owl, actually. It was stated in that part of the chapter, but I can see how you'd miss it. -winks-

**Naked!Tom Whore:** And I couldn't spell Crystal! Or CMD! That's it!(...don't say a word... -.-)  
Well, see, I figure that he doesn't _need_ to be naked to be practically screaming "You know you want me!"  
Oh, I dunno... There _might_ be Naked!Tom in it... I suppose you'd just have to read to find out. XD  
Nope. Not a chance. XP  
...I fell out of my chair when I first read that, I really did. And, yes, you just said that. I think you've now officially sunken to the deepest level of the world of Tom Worship. Rather sad, really. XD

**rosiegirl:** Well, Ron and the twins we learned were killed in an earlier chapter(5, I think...), but, yes, you may wonder where Ginny is.  
The "woman neither knew" was Syna. I wanted to put that in there, but it just wasn't fitting right, sadly.  
Tom was kinda hoping that Tonks would pick to help him out, really. And he liked her style(who wouldn't!).  
The other prisoners aren't really that important. Just people Tom got sick of arguing with. We might meet us with some of them, I haven't decided yet.  
I'm in my last year of Girl Scouts, actually. I don't think I'd make a good Leader. In fact, I think there are laws against letting people that are as crazy as me lead a troop of young, impressionable children. XD

**Maria Rosenfire:** Mehee. I'm creating a little relationship here. Be patient. XD  
Oh, yes, Doo probably should get his own snake, but, then, that snake wouldn't have the sense of humour Inda has.  
Yay! I like dragging people into the HP/TR universe. Means more reviews. -winks-

**tessa3:** -laughes- Didn't your parents ever teach _not_ to talk when your mouth was full?  
Ah... I'd love pics of those robes... Sadly, I cannot draw to save my life... T.T

**Lilith91:** Well, I had the Dark Side winning, so many of them kinda _had_ to die. Good fighters and all that rot. And, even if they'd lived, what would I do with them? They'd all be Forgotten, wouldn't remember a damn thing. I didn't even want to bring in Hermione, truth be told, she just snuck in there. -.- Damn her.  
Well, I never really said that the teachers had been killed, only that they'd fallen as Snape cursed them from behind. So, truly, for all we know, they're still alive. XD  
Now then, please don't kill me for killing so many people off?. -pleading look-

**XXRoseDawsonXX:** Ah, yes, I'm over my illness, thank Merlin. The potion shall be good for this migraine, tho. -.-  
S'mores, you say?. -hopeful look-

**ReaderMike:** Oooooh... Yes, jealous Nick in the middle of the courtroom... Have him loose his cool? Possibilities... -sneaks Mike a batch of cookies under the table-

**Hells Bitch:** You're not the only one! Wimpy!Peter is the only one I can really imagine, but I needed him more lion-like than rat-like in this fic...  
Math? Uhg. I pity you. -hasn't taken a Math class in two years-  
-grins-

**Lanhar:** Good questions!. -grins-  
Zack's not a Forgotten, no. We'll learn a bit more about him later. XD  
There's still a rather large gap between Glasgow and Hogwarts - where the Final Battle took place - and quite a few other places around the school that other people went to. Doo and Hertha are, actually, the only two Forgotten who ended up in the small town they live in now.(I call it a town, but it's really just a small neighborhood that's just outside of the Glasgow city limits.) There also weren't as many Forgotten as you may hope. Next chapter you'll get an exact number of the survivors. 

**AngelLovePhoenix:** FOOD!. -gobbles it all off, then proceeds to bounce off the walls, laughing insanely-

**Queen Asinoe:** No, Tom was still planning to wipe out all the Muggleborns... -mysterious look- And you'll find out why he didn't next chapter. -skips off with a pleased expression-

-

Batsutousai, AKA Bats


	10. Nine: Answers

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs, Angst(lots of angst), blood, war  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** 42! BITCH SET ME UP!

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** Sorry it's so late... -ducks rotten fruit and other flying projectiles- I had computer issues and too much work. -sweatdrop-

-------------------

Chapter Nine  
Answers

-------------------

"You know that we will protect our own until the day that we die without asking questions, but I would like to know what is going on here." Radolf said calmly. He, the other two town elders, Doo, Tom, Hertha, Deva, Nick, and Tonks were all sitting in Doo's sitting room above his shop. A tea tray with biscuits and a china teapot sat on the table in the centre of the group while each member nursed a cup of tea.

Doo sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "That would probably prove to be a very long and very involved conversation."

"We have time." Hertha cut in, eyeing her friend cautiously.

"I seriously doubt they'd be telling the whole town the story, you know." Nick offered from where he sat on the floor next to Deva. The Bulgarian nodded quietly.

Doo and Tom traded looks. The Dark Lord was obviously against the whole thing. **:Tom, it will make things easier if they understand.:** Doo pointed out gently.

**:They are _Muggles_, Doo.:** Tom hissed back.

**:They are in danger because of _us_.:**

"You know, I really hate it when people start talking in languages I don't understand." Nick said loudly.

Doo shot his friend an amused look while Tom scowled heavily at the Muggle. "You know, Ripley, I'm rather tempted to hex you right now." The Dark Lord growled.

"You couldn't hex me even if you wanted to." Nick responded.

"Do they always do this?" Hertha inquired, hiding a smile. The elders and Tonks didn't look much better off.

"Yes." Deva and Doo agreed in unison. "_Always_."

"Want me to get in the middle? I could stop the fight really easily." Tonks offered brightly.

"Tonks, I'd rather _not_ have to unhex you, thanks." Doo sighed, before looking at the elders and deciding to ignore the two who were arguing around him again. "This whole thing started before I was born, actually." He offered, smirking to himself when the man at his side froze mid-sentence. "There was a prophecy made about me and Tom, here."

Tom let out a helpless sigh and sat back in his seat. "At the time," He cut in, ignoring the sharp look from Doo. "I was power hungry. I wanted to rule the world and kill all Muggles - non-magical folk - leaving alive only the strongest, the best, witches and wizards. The prophecy told of a child who would be born who would be the one to destroy me. That child, was Doo.

"In an effort to end the threat before it began, I set out to kill the little monster. I managed to kill both of his parents, but his mother used ancient magic to give her life for Doo, keeping him alive. My spell rebounded and left me as nothing more than a spirit."

"A ghost?" Hertha inquired, frowning.

"No." Tonks slipped into the conversation. "If I recall what Albus and Doo told me, he was a true spirit. He didn't really have a corporal form, but he had the ability to possess animals and humans. He lived off of that for..." She paused to think. "Right. Thirteen years, give or take a few months."

"Aye." Doo nodded. "During this whole mess, I grew up with my Muggle relatives until I was accepted to Hogwarts, which is the main wizarding school here in England. I went there for all of my seven years, but, in my fourth year, Tom over here got his body back, with my help."

"You were quite unwilling, as I recall." Tom offered in an off-handed manner.

"I'd hope so." Nick snorted. He kept the rest of his comment to himself when Doo shot him a warning look.

"So, Tom here comes back and, what?" Hertha pressed. It appeared that the elders were allowing her to lead the storytellers.

"Well, the Ministry of Magic didn't believe he was back." Doo shrugged helplessly. "Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts at the time, and I tried talking them into believing us, but they weren't going for it. They didn't want to believe that such evil had returned. Instead, they did all in their power to discredit Albus and myself to the rest of our world, thereby giving Tom the time he'd needed to re-group and plan."

"Not that you lot were helpless." Tom rolled his eyes at Doo's cheeky grin. "Dumbledore was also the head of a somewhat secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix, which had been created to get rid of me. As soon as Doo told Dumbledore I was back, the Order reconvened and started getting all the information they could."

"At the end of my fifth year, my godfather was killed." Doo continued, eyes hard. "He was hardly the first death of the second war, but it was through the attack that got him killed that the rest of the wizarding world finally realized that, yes, Tom was back and, yes, he was just as determined as ever to kill off all the Muggle-borns and leave only pure-bloods in his wake." The pale-haired man's fist was clenched so tightly in his lap that his knuckles were turning white.

"And, at that time, I was." Tom agreed, voice soft.

Tonks gave the Dark Lord a strange look. "What changed that, anyway?"

"Age." Tom shrugged mildly. "Doo reminding me more times than I can count that I was a half-blood myself. Take your pick."

Doo blinked at the Dark Lord quietly for a moment before he continued, voice emotionless. "After that fight, it was all-out war, and the Ministry was poorly prepared. Tom's people launched an attack at least once a week and, before school started up again, over half of the Ministry's Aurors were dead." Everyone winced, and Tonks rubbed at her eyes furiously. A hand on Doo's back made him go on. "For every one of Tom's men the Ministry caught, ten more appeared. They never seemed to stop coming, and they rarely ever died."

"It would have helped, I think, if Amelia Bones hadn't been so set on not allowing any of us to use Dark Arts." Tonks murmured. "But, by the time we'd managed to convince her, it was too late. She was dead before she even signed the papers."

"That was..." Doo rubbed at his forehead thoughtfully. "...near the end of my seventh year, correct?"

"Yeah. That's when the Ministry building fell." Tonks agreed.

"And St Mungo's." Doo nodded, then turned to their audience. "St Mungo's was the wizarding hospital. We lost over five hundred people in that attack alone."

"It was a nightmare." Tonks said numbly.

Doo nodded again. "That summer, they got Diagon Alley, our main shopping centre. Gringotts was the last to fall. Not even the dragons we'd called in from Romania helped stop that one."

"That was also the summer when we killed your relatives, as I recall." Tom offered helpfully, his darkened eyes a sharp contrast to the cheery voice.

"It was, wasn't it..." Doo shook his head. "It all started running together then."

"Yeah." Tonks let out a sigh. "That Christmas was when they found Order Headquarters. I remember that."

Doo shuddered, recalling Molly and Arthur's deaths. "Aye. At least everyone died quickly, though." No one saw fit to comment on that. "After that, we moved what was left of the Order and the Ministry into Hogwarts and made it our new base. The school had been turned into a fighting arena, of sorts. Normal classes were cancelled to teach every able-bodied student how to defend themselves. If you weren't able-bodied, you helped out in the infirmary, treating wounded fighters as they came back from failed attacks on Tom's troops."

"The 'Final Battle' came a few years later." Tom slid in as he surreptitiously rubbed a hand on Doo's lower back soothingly.

"We went in to the battle with a little over one hundred students, teachers, and Aurors." Doo murmured, then glanced back at Tom. "How many came out?"

"Thirty, give or take a few." Tom offered.

Tonks let out a choked sob and buried her face in her hands. Hertha immediately went over to sooth the older woman, eyes dancing with horror.

Theodore Bort, one of the elders, gave Doo a sharp look. "How did you come to be here, then?" He asked. He appeared to be the least shaken in the room, other than Tom and Doo, who were both masking their emotions.

Tom inclined his head to the man. "When I thought I'd killed Doo, I cast a wide-range spell that blocked the memories of all of those who'd fought against me. It touched all of Europe as well as parts of Asia, Africa, and North America. The spell allowed them to retain things like speech and other abilities they'd had before, but it blocked all their memories of how they'd learned those things. A very clever witch once pointed out to me that, if I killed off everyone against me, we'd have no one left and would, in time, die off."

Doo gave Tom a sharp look. "Hermione told you that, didn't she? That time you lot captured her."

Tom inclined his head in agreement. "And she said it in a way that made sense to me."

"She was very good at that." Tonks managed, giving Hertha a look of thanks, as if thanking her for comforting her, not for saving her life.

"Those that lost their memories were left to do as they would." Tom continued. "Somehow, Doo cast a spell that kept him alive, but he managed to get caught in my blanket spell anyway. He, too, became one of what we call the Forgotten. It was mere chance that we ended up meeting and seeing eye-to-eye."

"If not for Wormtail, he'd still be one of your 'Forgotten'." Nick tossed at the Dark Lord.

"Nick, vill you ever learn to keep your mouth shut?" Deva asked in exasperation as Tom shot the Muggle a dark look.

"Nope." Doo grinned at his friend brightly, all traces of former sorrow gone in the blink of an eye. "Of course, if he could keep his mouth shut, he wouldn't be Nick, now would he?"

"I think we'd be better off without him, personally." Tom grumbled.

"Wait!" Everyone turned to Hertha, who was frowning. "What about the prophecy?"

Doo grimaced. "The prophecy stated that one of us had to die at the hand of the other. I died during the war, really and truly died, but I managed to come back. However, if you compare the old me to the new me, I think the only similarity is my eyes."

Tom nodded. "Your hair is a different colour and your face is shaped differently. Add to that the lack of those bloody glasses and the disappearance of your scar..."

"I wonder why the scar left, anyway..." Tonks murmured thoughtfully as she tossed a tissue in the waste can next to her chair.

Doo and Tom stared at each other for a long moment before Doo spoke his thoughts. "It was the prophecy scar."

"_And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal..._" Tom nodded. "So, once the prophecy had been fulfilled, the scar faded, having served it's purpose."

"You know, that makes sense, in a twisted sort of way." Tonks decided, grinning. "Doo, you're brilliant!"

"And what about me?" Tom asked dryly.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Tonks gave the Dark Lord a bright smile before pulling Hertha into her lap to use as a shield.

Hertha let out an undignified squeal. "Tonks Black, unhand me this minute!"

"Can't, love." Tonks replied happily. "Old Voldie might hex me, else."

"And you'd deserve it, too! Let me go!"

Doo snorted into his hand as everyone else laughed at the scene the two women were making. "Tonks, let her go. I promise I won't let Tom hex you."

"What if I curse her a little?" Tom pleaded.

"What are you, three?" Doo rolled his eyes upwards. "Gods help me! I'm surrounded by children!"

"You _do_ know that Nick is the only person younger than you, right?" Tonks offered, finally letting Hertha get up.

"I'm well aware of that, thanks." Doo scowled. "Prat."

Hertha started frowning again. "How do you know how old I am?" She asked rather suddenly. Doo and Tonks traded looks. "_I_ don't even know how old I am." She suddenly turned her gaze on Tom, who merely cocked an eyebrow at her in return. "I'm a Forgotten, aren't I? And you knew all along."

"Yes." Tom agreed easily. "And I knew who you were the first time I saw you, too. Ms Granger."

Hertha set her jaw. "Give me back my memories."

Tonks let out a strangled sound and Doo shot up out of his seat. "Hertha, please, you don't want this burden. You don't want to remember what happened. Please, the memory loss is a gift." The young man said softly, eyes pleading his friend to let it go.

Hertha shook her head. "I cannot go on living a lie."

"You don't know what you're asking. You have no idea how bad it was." Doo whispered. _'I can't let her do this! It will kill her!'_ He knew. He knew Hertha Riddock and he knew Hermione Granger. They weren't that different.

"Dooley..." Hertha started.

"Wait!" Doo's eyes lit up as an idea came to him. "I'll be right back." He shot Tom a sharp look before dashing into his room. He tugged his shrunken paintings from his bag and shifted through them. When he found the right one, he resized it, then dragged it out into the living-room, turned towards himself.

"What is that?" Nick inquired.

Doo swallowed. "Before I got my memories back, I'd have memory flashes of my former life. Sometimes, images would stay with me. To get the images out of my head, I'd paint them." He explained softly. "Zack, and then Tom, were the only ones who have ever seen any of my works." He met Hertha's frowning eyes evenly. "This is one of those paintings. I know now that the girl in this painting was you, Hertha, during the war." Hertha's eyes widened. "Look at yourself from that time and tell me if you really want those memories back." Doo turned the picture around.

The room filled with gasps as everyone stared at the tear-stained face of Hermione Granger. Her eyes were haunted with terrors no person should have to face. She looked young, nineteen at the most, and had blood staining the parts of her robe and wild hair that were in the picture. Behind her was the infirmary at Hogwarts, filled with patients of all ages that were bleeding slowly and crying out in pain. Hermione, herself, seemed to be in the process of saying something, though the words were lost to the soundlessness of the painting.

"I knew you during the war, Hertha." Doo whispered in the oppressing silence. "You were like a sister to me. Please don't do this to yourself." Hertha crumbled to the ground with a sob and buried her face in her hands. Doo set his painting to one side and knelt before the young woman. "Hertha?"

Hertha flung herself into Doo's arms, sobbing. "A part of me needs to know, but another part of me is agreeing with you!" She cried, burying her face in Doo's neck. "I don't know what to do, Dooley... I don't know what to do."

Doo glanced up and met Tom's scarlet eyes. The Dark Lord read the message there and sighed. "Doo's right. I refuse to return your memories, Ms Riddock." Doo nodded his thanks as he continued comforting the distressed Forgotten.

'_It's for the best.'_

-

-

**A/N:** Yes, yes, it's short. Piff. It's also another one of those chapters that's chock full of stuff. Humph.

-

**_Thanks to:_** I'm soooooo busy! I have to leave for college in a few hours! T.T Lots of packing! My house is in an uproar! Sorry this took so long to get out, and I'm sorry I don't have time for review replies, but let me just say thank you to everyone! I love you all!. -big hugs all around-

-

Batsutousai


	11. Ten: The True Threat Becomes Known

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Hells Bitch  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** I wanna nap, mommy! T.T

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** College has been eating my brain. Sorry this took so long.

-------------------

Chapter Ten  
The True Threat Becomes Know

-------------------

"You know, that was far too easy," Doo mentioned to Tom later.

"What? Getting the town elders to believe our insane tale without locking us up?" Tom asked dryly from the kitchen. He was washing the dishes they'd used earlier, since Doo was sitting on the couch with Hertha's head in his lap. The witch had fallen asleep not too long after her breakdown and they'd all decided to just keep her at Doo's, since he was the one who could answer her questions easiest. Tonks and Deva had gone to pick up Renny from school and keep him downstairs in the actual shop. If Hertha wasn't well enough to handle her rambunctious son by the time Nick closed the shop, Renny would go home with the two witches while Hertha remained with Doo.

Doo rolled his eyes as he let his fingers stroke Hertha's hair. "No, you dick. I mean with the rebellion. That can't have been everyone. And what about Lucius? He was neither with Goyle, nor was he scouring the town like the others we got."

Tom came to the kitchen doorway with a frown. "He probably didn't want his hands dirty. If he thought the whole thing could fail, he might have gone back to the base so he'd have an alibi."

"I don't like the idea of him getting off."

"I know."

"Will you do anything about it?"

Tom shrugged. "No."

"What! Why not!"

"You'll wake your friend."

Doo narrowed his eyes. "Why won't you just kill him? You know he's the one trying to take you down," he hissed furiously.

Tom sighed. "Doo, look." he settled down on one of the chairs across from the younger man. "I know not all of their people were in that attack, they couldn't have been. If I'm going to draw the others out, I need Lucius to think he's still safe."

"What if he hurts more people?" Doo asked, feeling like crying.

The Dark Lord stood with another sigh. "Take a nap, Doo."

"Why?"

"Just take one," Tom said with a touch of exasperation before he returned to the kitchen.

With a hurt look, Doo settled back against the couch and closed his eyes. He would never understand the Dark Lord's mind.

-

"Tom?"

The Dark Lord turned and blinked at the woman standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "How can I help you, Ms Riddock?"

Hertha fiddled with the bottom of her shirt. "Are you sure you can-"

"I will not return your memories. That is final," Tom cut in, turning back to the dishes he'd been washing still.

"You returned Dooley's!" Hertha spat furiously.

"Doo was a special case."

"Oh, sure." Hertha sneered. "You gave him back his memories because you were _sleeping_ with him."

"That's not true and I'm sure you're aware of that. I needed Doo to remember so I could learn something that only he knew of," Tom replied evenly.

"What says I don't have something important?"

Cold red eyes turned on the Forgotten and Hertha flinched. "Because I tortured it all out of you, mere days before the Final Battle."

"Tom!" Doo appeared behind Hertha rather suddenly, immediately drawing his friend into a hug. "Stop that!"

"She asked," the Dark Lord muttered darkly, turning away.

"Keep him away from me," Hertha whispered softly, pressing Doo back out of the kitchen.

Doo sighed and guided the woman back to the couch. "He has a short temper, you know."

"I see that," Hertha muttered tightly.

Doo shook his head. "Please let it be?"

Hertha narrowed her eyes at the owner of the candy shop. "If you'd been told that there was a way to learn all that you'd once forgotten, would you have taken it?" she demanded.

Doo swallowed with some difficulty and nodded. "Yes, I probably would have."

"Then why won't you let me!"

"You have to understand-"

"I don't _want_ to understand! I want to know what you aren't telling me!"

"The father of your son is dead, you know," a chilled voice came from the kitchen doorway. Both Hertha and Doo turned to look at him warily. "I killed him, Ms Riddock. Would you like to know how he died?"

"Tom, you will shut up and stay out of this discussion or I will tie you up in a corner and gag you," Doo whispered, standing slowly.

"No, Dooley, let him tell me all about it," Hertha spat, standing behind Doo.

"Herth-" Doo spun to look at his friend, but Tom cut in sharply.

"His name was Brian Chilinger," the Dark Lord hissed, eyes flashing dangerously. "He was an Unspeakable for the Ministry and put together his own little rescue mission to get you out of my grasp. We caught him, of course, and made you watch, Ms Riddock, as he was raped, and beat, and slowly tortured to death."

Hertha's eyes had widened in horror and she had taken her seat again. "Gods..."

Doo grabbed Tom roughly by one arm and dragged him back into the kitchen where he stopped to smack the Dark Lord across the face. "What the fuck has bitten up your arse, Marvolo?"

"She asked," Tom replied darkly, rubbing at his cheek.

"You didn't have to tell her about Brian's death!"

"What would you have rather I told her? Should I have told her what we'd done to _her_ instead? Or would you have preferred me telling her about how we utterly destroyed her parents? Or, even better, the death of her infant goddaughter?" the Dark Lord spat furiously.

"Would you _stop it_!" Doo spat, green eyes darkening with barely restrained anger. "I would like it if you would just stay out of the whole thing."

Red eyes narrowed. "Then I shall just leave and you can deal with your little Mudblood friend alone."

"Don't you call her that!"

Tom swept past Doo and grabbed some Floo Powder. "Good luck, _Potter_," he sneered before disappearing in green flames.

"Argh!" Doo slammed his fist into the wall next to himself angrily. "Merlin fucking bastard," he muttered, sinking to his knees.

"Dooley?" Hertha whispered, standing.

Doo blinked up at her tiredly. "Ya?"

"Are you okay?"

"Sure." Doo nodded and rested his head back against the wall. "I'm just a little tired."

Hertha bit her lower lip worriedly. She remembered that Doo had been in the hospital recently because of a loss of blood caused by Zack's threat. Her younger friend probably shouldn't have been exerting himself so. "Can you get up? I'll help you to your bed," she offered, kneeling before the white-haired man.

"Naw. I'm fine." Doo sighed, closing his eyes. "Don't worry."

Hertha shook her head. "No, come on. I'm helping you to bed. I'll never hear the end of it if I let you sleep on the floor."

Doo sighed, but allowed her to help him get into his room. "Thanks," he murmured as she tucked him in.

"Don't thank me. I'm stressing you out and you don't need the stress," Hertha whispered, brushing a lock of hair out of Doo's face.

The younger wizard smiled faintly. "Would you like for me to share some happier memories with you?"

Hertha blinked a few times in surprise, then nodded cautiously. "Sure."

Doo's smile widened and he sat up a little in bed, wordlessly calling the picture of the Burrow that hung on his wall over to them. "This is the Burrow. When you and I were in school, we had another friend, Ronald Weasley, and this was his home. That's him, right there." Doo pointed to where Ron was leaning out of an upper window, obviously calling down to the twins, who stood on the grass beneath his bedroom.

"Who is everyone?" Hertha inquired, leaning back against the headboard of the bed next to Doo.

"Well, let's see... That's Molly, Ron's mum, and Arthur, Ron's dad," Doo started, pointing to each person as he named them. "That's Bill with his wife, Fleur, and their son, Gideon. Those two are Fred and George. They drove you insane in school because they were always causing trouble and refused to follow any sort of rules. That's Bill over there, and helping him is Ginny. That one, hiding in his room, is Percy. You can't see him very well, though, I'm afraid..."

"Wow..." Hertha's eyes shone. "What about these other pictures?" She glanced up around the room.

Doo sent the picture of the Burrow back, calling another picture to them. "At the school we went to, Hogwarts, each student was sorted into one of four Houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. We were both Gryffindors and this was our common room."

Hertha blinked at the picture for a moment before stating, "It's very, ah, _red_."

Doo laughed. "Gryffindor's House colours were red and gold."

"I see..." Hertha ran a gentle hand over the painting. "Did we have a favourite place to sit?"

"Of course." Doo pointed to the seat of seats in front of the fireplace. "We'd sit there and talk or you would watch on as Ron kicked my arse at chess. Often, though, you could be found over in this corner, behind a pile of books, studying, especially when we were all fighting."

"Did that happen often?"

"You and Ron fought a lot, yeah. Our year mates would often claim it was because you fancied one another and just needed to date for a month so you could realize that you just didn't go together that way and could move on," Doo offered, rolling his eyes in amusement.

Hertha laughed. "You must have been so mad at us all the time!"

"Oh, it was certainly aggravating, but you guys were my family, so I just tried to keep stuff together." Doo shook his head. "It was certainly amusing at the time, though."

Hertha rested a hand on Doo's hand and smiled faintly. "What about the other pictures?"

Doo switched pictures again. "This is Headmaster Dumbledore's office. There's the Sorting Hat, which is how you're placed into the various houses, and there's the perch for Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix. Let's see... Oh! You fell in love with his bookcases during the war because they were so interesting. Dumbledore was so pleased that someone could find joy from all those books..." Doo trailed off, staring sadly at the book shelves.

"Dooley?" Hertha whispered, looking at the young man's face.

Doo blinked back up at her and smiled faintly. "Sorry. Just remembering stuff..." Doo shrugged and sent the painting back to it's place on the wall before calling out a painting he'd hidden. "Here. This is the Knight Bus. Craziest mode of transportation in the whole world."

Hertha laughed at the large purple bus. "Is it possible for that thing to move!"

"Oh, quite." Doo chuckled. "In fact, it zips around insanely, throwing passengers into the walls and out of their chairs and it can't stay on the roadway at all. As I recall, you swore to never ride the thing again, once."

"That's horrible!" Hertha laughed. "What if they hit something?"

"Stuff would jump out of the way for it, actually. Damnedest thing I ever saw."

"By the Gods. Does it still exist?"

"I haven't the faintest," Doo replied, eyes glinting with mischief. "We could always call it and find out, of course..."

"No!" Hertha breathed, then bowed over, laughing helplessly. Doo grinned. "You're horrible!"

"I know." Doo winked, sending the picture back.

Hertha forced herself to calm down, still smiling. "Here. You take a nap and I'm going to head downstairs to make sure Renny's behaving himself."

Doo nodded and snuggled deeper in his bed, smiling when Hertha fussed over him a bit more. "You know, you used to do this during the war, too," he murmured.

"Do you mind?" Hertha inquired, pausing.

"No." Doo's smile turned sad as he closed his eyes. "Like I told you back then, it was nice to know that at least _someone_ cared..."

Hertha leaned down and kissed Doo's forehead. "Plenty of people care for you, Dooley. You just sleep, now."

"...'k..."

Hertha left the room quietly only after Doo's breathing had evened out, brushing a gentle hand through the other's hair until then.

-

"Hey, Tonks?"

"Hertha!" Tonks grinned at the young woman peaking around the door up to Doo's flat.

"Mum!" A head of crazy dark brown hair tackled the Forgotten as she stepped out into the open space behind the counter.

Hertha smiled and picked her son up. "Are you behaving yourself, little mister?"

"Yes, mum." Renny rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around his mother's neck. "Are you okay?" he asked softly with a touch of concern.

Hertha sighed. "Well enough, yes." She set her son down. "Go help Mr Ripley cause havoc while I speak to Miss Black."

"K!" Renny hopped over to tackle Nick, who laughed and started tickling him mercilessly.

"So..." Tonks smiled faintly at Hertha. "Where's Doo and the jack-arse?"

"Marvolo left," Hertha offered stiffly. "And Dooley is taking a nap."

"Uh-oh. What did Marvolo do?" Tonks inquired with a touch of concern as she motioned Hertha towards Doo's empty office.

"He just decided to be a general bastard." Hertha shrugged.

"Have a seat." Tonks sighed. "Much as I hate to admit it, the bastard's mostly acting this way because he's worried about stuff."

"What sort of stuff?" Hertha leaned forward curiously.

"Well, Doo, for one." Tonks shrugged. "The world he's created and the lives of those who side with him."

Hertha nodded sadly. She could understand that. "He mentioned that I had a goddaughter?"

Tonks froze for a brief moment before nodding warily. "Azura Weasley. She was Ron and Lavender's daughter. You and Doo were named godparents."

Hertha's eyes turned sad. "She's dead, isn't she?"

Tonks turned away. "She and Lavender were killed one night in their sleep."

Hertha nodded. "She was a happy baby?"

"She was the happiest baby I've even met. She had these beautiful blue eyes and a little crop of dark red hair." Tonks smiled sadly. "We all adored her."

"At least she died in her sleep and not in the middle of war, right?"

"Yeah. That's one thing we can all be grateful for," Tonks agreed.

The women sat in silence for a long time after that.

-/-

_'Harry?'_

_Doo opened his eyes and stared in shock at the man who stood before him. 'Albus!' He hugged his mentor tightly. 'It's so good to see you again!'_

_Albus Dumbledore smiled sadly and ran a gentle hand through the long pale hair of the young man he'd long considered a grandson of sorts. 'Oh, my dear child...' He pulled away to gaze sadly at the younger wizard. 'We don't have much time, my child.'_

_Doo's eyes narrowed. 'Where are we, Albus?'_

_'On the plain between life and death. The two of us have been here before, so we may come, but others will not be able to.'_

_'And our time here is limited. I see,' Doo replied thoughtfully._

_'Yes.'_

_'What can I do for you, Albus?' Doo gazed into the blue eyes which still twinkled, even in death._

_'You will not destroy his world, I see,' Albus said sadly._

_'I like our world as it is now,' Doo retorted coolly._

_'I know.' Albus sighed. 'You will need all the help you can get to keep that world, though.'_

_Doo frowned. 'Albus, what do you know that you aren't telling?'_

_'Lucius isn't working alone. He has an ally that even you would be hard-pressed to put away,' Albus said seriously._

_'Who?'_

_'Lucius has made a pact with a daemon.'_

_'Impossible! I thought Merlin had sealed the way into the daemon realm after trapping them all there!'_

_'It appears that a line was missed. They have been biding their time. They aim to unseal their world, but they will need the magical world's cooperation to do so. You **must not** allow this.'_

_'No, of course not,' Doo agreed. 'What sort of help can you give us?'_

_'I can only help you from this plain, but we shall work on this together on my side.'_

_Doo nodded. 'Do you have anything for now?'_

_Albus set a strange pendent around Harry's throat. 'This will allow you to call me to this plain. Also, Luna and Neville are still alive. You will want their help.'_

_'Where are they?'_

_'Not far. Stirling, I think, is where Brian pin-pointed them.'_

_Doo nodded seriously. 'I'll make a trip out there immediately.'_

_'Good.' Albus smiled sadly. 'I know you wish to protect them, but their memories will help them in what is to come.'_

_Doo closed his eyes against tears. 'I know,' he managed in a whisper._

_Albus settled a gentle hand on the younger wizard's shoulder. 'You've made us all proud, Harry. I know you'll be fine.'_

_Doo smiled sadly. 'Thank you, Albus.'_

_'Good luck, my dear boy.'_

_'And you, Albus.'_

-/-

Doo sat up quickly in bed, one hand held to his heart. _'Was that real?'_ He glanced down as the cool kiss of metal touched his hand gently. "Merlin..." The green-eyed man stared down at the strange symbol for a long moment before vaulting suddenly out of bed and running to his fireplace. "Slytherin Manor!" he shouted, tossing down a handful of Floo Powder.

Doo paused to take a deep breath and transfigure his robes before slipping from the travel room and moving quickly through the halls. Not that he had any idea where Tom's office could be in the building, but he needed to _do_ something!

"Tarrant!"

Doo spun, bowing as he caught sight of the Dark Lord, mostly to hide his involuntary sneer at the sight of the man walking just behind Voldemort. "Milord, you'll excuse me, but I must speak to you," Doo murmured to the ground.

Voldemort swept up to the pale-haired man and jerked his head up, glaring into jade-coloured eyes. "About what, Tarrant?"

"It is private, Milord," Doo responded evenly.

The Dark Lord sneered. "Lucius, we will continue this later," he called over his shoulder to the Death Eater who he'd been speaking to before. "Now then, Tarrant, let us walk to my office," he offered before grabbing Doo's arm painfully and half dragging the younger man with him. Once in his office, he slammed the door, then turned on Doo.

Doo calmly brushed down his dark green robes. "You know, that hurt," he offered, rubbing at his arm.

"This had better be good, Tarrant. I don't have time to deal with you and your little girlfriend," Voldemort spat, stepping up to his chair behind his desk and seating himself in it.

Doo's gaze darkened. "Perhaps you _wouldn't_ like to know what Lucius is planning, then," he spat, leaning back against the wall next to the door.

The Dark Lord's lips curled in a sneer. "Like you've learned anything."

Doo let out a hiss. "I know more than you do, Tom, so I'd suggest you throw your attitude out the window for a moment or I won't tell you a damn thing."

"Don't you-" Voldemort rose from his chair threateningly.

"I will speak to you however I want!" Doo shouted over the other's words. "I will not lose my world to Lucius Malfoy and his allies because you feel like being conceited! Now **_sit down_**!"

Voldemort sat back down with a dark look.

"Thank you." Doo stepped forward and sat in a chair across the desk from the elder wizard. "Hertha made me take another nap after you'd left and the strangest thing happened."

"What? You woke up in the middle of a nice dream?"

Doo took a deep breath and forced his temper down. "No, Tom. Albus dragged me to the plain between life and death to talk."

"That old coot did _what_!" The Dark Lord jumped to his feet.

"Please sit down and I'll explain," Doo said, rubbing wearily at the bridge of his nose.

Voldemort sat back down, frowning. "Fine."

Doo nodded. "Because of the spell that kept me alive, I can travel to that plain without dying. According to Albus, it's another side-effect of the spell. He brought me there to tell me that Lucius Malfoy has made a pact with a daemon."

"Daemons are myths," Voldemort snorted.

"Only fools ignore warnings from beyond," Doo shot back coldly.

The Dark Lord stared into angry green eyes for a long moment. "What if it was merely a dream?"

Doo pulled his pendant from beneath his robes. "Do you know this symbol?" Voldemort nodded wordlessly, eyes wide. "Merlin's symbol, yes. Albus gave it to me on that other plain. He says it will help me call him to the plain if I need him."

The Dark Lord steepled his fingers and stared off into space. "This presents a problem. I do not have the sort of resources legend tells are required to battle daemons."

"Nor do I," Doo agreed ruefully. "But Albus seems to think that, working together and with a little extra help, we'll manage it."

"What sort of extra help?" Voldemort refocused his gaze on Doo suspiciously.

"Some members of the Light."

"We have more than enough of your friends running around."

"And you'll have to return their memo-"

"No! Absolutely not!" Voldemort flew to his feet and leaned over his desk threateningly. "You and you alone received that privilege!"

"If you want to live, you have to forget your ideas of the Forgotten!" Doo shot back, not bothering to stand. "You cannot fight a war such as this with less than a dozen people, most of whom don't really know what's going on!"

"You and your friends did well enough in small numbers!"

"AND WE LOST!" Doo screamed, finally losing any concept of control over his violate temper. "Don't you understand! We! Fucking! Lost! We weren't strong enough! Most of us _died_!" The pale-haired man stood slowly. "If your world were falling apart around you and you were going to be facing death whether you helped or not, wouldn't you at least like to know what you'd once forgotten?" Then Doo spun and stormed from the room.

Voldemort fell back into his chair and buried his face in his hands. That had not gone well.

-/-

-/-

**A/N:** Wheeeeeeee! The stress of college is eating my brain!. -falls over, laughing hysterically-

I need a nap. -Zzzzzzzzzz-

Review replies can be found at batsutousai . livejournal . com once I get off my arse and put 'em up.

Bats


	12. Eleven: Gathering Allies

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** Hells Bitch  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** Does anyone else hate getting up in the morning?

**Key:**  
'Thoughts'  
Writing  
¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
**:Parseltongue:**

-------------------

Chapter Eleven  
Gathering Allies

-------------------

Doo stormed into his office, completely ignoring the startled looks on the faces of the two women who'd been sitting in there, chatting. "Where the fuck did I put it..."

Hertha found her voice first. "Dooley?"

"Yes?" Doo replied, not looking up from his hurried search of his increasingly-messy desk.

"What are you looking for?"

Doo blinked up at the two witches for a long moment before returning to his frenzied search. "The gun I keep in here somewhere."

"What!" Hertha's face slipped into a mask of horror.

"Um, Doo, bud, why are you looking for that old thing?" Nick inquired from the doorway.

"Because I am making a quick trip to Stirling and I'd like a Muggle weapon in case I find myself cornered in a place where it's wiser to not use magic."

"Wait, wait." Tonks stood. "Harry, _why_ are you going to Stirling?"

Doo turned and gave Tonks an exasperated look. "First, don't call me that. Second, because Albus says that Luna and Neville are in that area."

"Albus is dead," Tonks replied flatly.

"Indeed he is," Doo agreed, returning to his search.

"What, you can speak to the dead now?" Tonks muttered, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Only Albus," Doo corrected easily.

Tonks turned to Nick. "Where's the nearest mental hospital?"

"I haven't lost my mind!" Doo complained, turning to give Tonks an annoyed look.

"There's one in Glasgow," Hertha offered.

"Hey!"

"Vy are you harassing Doo?" Deva inquired, poking her head around her boyfriend's shoulder.

"He seems to think that he can talk to Albus from beyond the grave," Tonks offered dryly.

"You'd do well to believe him, too," a chilled voice offered from behind Nick.

"Finally decided to get your head out of your arse, I see," Doo spat, turning away from the doorway as Tom stepped into sight.

"I don't know what you me-"

"Shut up," Doo ordered coldly, casting a wandless Silencing Charm.

Tom made a sharp motion with his hand, then pushed into the office, which was getting rather crowded. "Don't you cast spells on me, Tarrant."

Doo spun and glared up into angry rubies. "Get out of my shop, Tom Riddle," he whispered.

Tom's hand shot out and grabbed Doo around the throat. "Excuse me?"

The others in the room or in the doorway cried "Stop!" and "Let him go!" Tonks drew her wand on the Dark Lord, looking grim.

Doo's eyes flashed angrily and his knee shot out, slamming into the Dark Lord's crotch, which made the man let him go. Then Doo slammed his elbow down on the back other man's head, which he'd bowed over in reaction from the pain in his crotch. The man fell bonelessly to the ground and Doo glanced up at Tonks. "Keep your wand trained on him. That's not Tom," he ordered, then closed his eyes and, leaning back against his desk, clutched the pendent at his throat.

-/-

_'Albus! Albus!'_

_'Hogwarts. He's fine,' Albus said soothingly as he appeared on the plane. 'Ginevra says to check Stirling Castle. Neville works there, maintaining the gardens while Luna is a tour guide.'_

_'Thanks, Albus,' Doo breathed, hugging the old man tightly._

_'Any time, Harry.'_

-/-

Doo came back to himself to find himself in his chair. Tonks was the only on still in the office, guarding the man that still looked like Tom that had remained in the middle of the ground. Out in the shop, Doo recognized the sound of the elders talking with his friends. "I haven't lost my mind, you know," he muttered as he sat up slowly.

"We figured that," Tonks agreed. "Deva went and got the bastard really fast and he confirmed your story."

Doo was out of his chair and peeking out into the main part of the shop before Tonks could even blink. "Tom?"

The Dark Lord turned and looked over at the white-haired man in the office doorway coolly. "Yes?"

"You're okay?" Doo asked in a small voice.

The barely contained anger in the false green eyes faded. "Yes. Are you?"

Doo shrugged. "My throat's a little sore, but I think I'll live."

"Good."

"Hey, Doo?" Nick called.

"Yeah?"

"How'd you know that man wasn't Marvolo?"

Doo smiled coldly. "His eyes were red."

"Doo-man, Marvolo's eyes _are_ red," Nick pointed out.

"I change them to green when I come to visit," Tom murmured thoughtfully. "You pay too much attention to details."

"It's saved my life plenty of times in the past."

"So it has." Tom turned back to the elders. "I hate having to bring Muggles into a battle that isn't theirs, but do you believe that the town would fight if given the chance?"

"We are already a part of this war," Radolf pointed out calmly. "We will continue to fight if we are needed."

Doo slipped into the open space next to the Dark Lord. **:You decided to ask for help:**

**:On this matter, I will trust Albus. He is the only one with easy access to Merlin:** Tom replied with a shrug.

Doo's lips curved up into a smile. **:Score one for the dead man.:**

Tom laughed, shaking his head. "Go to Stirling, you little monster."

Doo glanced outside. "Tomorrow. It's too dark now."

"I'm coming with!" Tonks called.

"Right." Tom looked back at the elders. "Let me call Peter, then, and we can go over this court case."

"Oiy. I'd gone and forgotten all about that damned court case..." Doo groaned reaching around Tom and grabbing a few chocolate malt balls to eat.

Everyone smiled at the owner of the candy shop while Tom tugged the younger man's ponytail. "No time like the present!"

"You're too cheerful. Go away," Doo muttered.

Tom laughed.

-/-

"Wow! These are _beautiful_! Albus said _Neville_ was the gardener!"

Doo smiled at Tonks, who was 'oh'ing and 'ah'ing over the gardens of Stirling Castle. "Neville loves plants. I'm not surprised he'd still love them, even after the loss of his memory," Doo replied.

"See, you knew him _much_ better than I did. He was just another Auror to me, albeit a good one," Tonks shrugged. "Although, there was that little Mimbuls-thingie he kept in his dorm..."

Doo laughed. "_Mimbulus mimbletonia_."

"That was it!" Tonks grinned at her friend. "How do you remember these things, Doo?"

"He got it on his fifteenth birthday and took really good care of it. We saw it a lot," Doo replied with a large smile.

"I'll be damned." Tonks turned back to the patch of flowers before her and brushed a finger against a blossom. "I hope he's doing well..."

A tall, regal-looking gentleman stepped up and, picking the flower Tonks had just been admiring, held it out to her. "A beautiful flower for a beautiful lady?"

"The flower was more beautiful before you'd picked it," Tonks retorted, standing and glaring at the man.

"Tonks doesn't do it justice, anyway," Doo offered, sliding in between Tonks and the new man.

"Thanks, Doo," Tonks muttered sarcastically.

"No problem, honey," Doo replied brightly before offering the man who'd approached his friend a dangerous look. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah. I want you to buzz off, shrimp," the man sneered, easily towering over Doo.

"I think not." Doo met the stranger's grey eyes evenly. "You, however, may feel free to scamper off."

"Doo!" Tonks screamed as the taller man's hand flew towards Doo.

Doo merely smiled grimly and, ducking easily beneath the approaching hand, swept one foot across the other's lower legs, sending the man toppling to the ground. "Or you may kiss the ground at my feet. Which ever you prefer," Doo offered smugly as he stood.

"Why you little-"

"I think that's enough," said a voice from behind the fallen man. Tonks, Doo, and their tormentor all glanced up to see a tall, muscular man with light brown hair standing between two of the Castle's guards. Tonks and Doo were left momentarily speechless at the sight of their missing friend.

"Sir, this squirt knocked me to my feet for no obvious reason!" the man whom Doo had been fighting with cried, jumping to his feet.

The young gardener - Demetrius, according to his nametag - replied, "It appeared like he had plenty of reason to me. You've also, sir, discounted one of my rules. No picking the flowers. Take him out, gentlemen."

As the guards removed the man, Demetrius stepped up to Tonks and Doo. "You were speaking of me earlier, weren't you?"

Doo's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps. How much did you hear?"

Demetrius smiled. "More than enough. Would you care for some tea? My wife and I have a small cottage on the grounds."

Doo and Tonks traded looks. "Sure," Tonks answered brightly.

Demetrius nodded. "If you'll come this way, then..."

Doo and Tonks fell into step with the man. "I'm Doo Tarrant, by the way," Doo offered, holding out a hand.

Demetrius shook the offered hand with a pleased smile. "And you are?" he inquired of Tonks.

Tonks grinned. "Tonks Black. It's wonderful to find you alive."

Demetrius hummed. "I am Demetrius Gardner, or Demmy for short. You knew me by a different name, though, from the sounds of things."

Doo smiled ruefully. "Neville Longbottom, yes. I was known as Harry Potter back then, myself."

Demmy cocked his head to one side. "Interesting. Why did you change your name?"

"Same reason as yourself. I couldn't remember anything," Doo offered.

Demmy gave Doo a curious look. "Yet you remember now?"

"Yes," Doo inclined his head. "Out in the open is not the place to explain, though."

"That is well enough." Demmy smiled, stopping before a small cabin hidden away in a nook of the towering walls. "This is my home. Come on in," he offered, pushing the door open.

Doo and Tonks stepped into the small cabin, smiling. The building was populated by plants and posters or statues of things that were considered fantasy by Muggles. This was certainly the home of Neville and Luna Longbottom. "This is lovely, Demmy," Tonks offered to their host.

Demmy waved them towards the small table. "Have a seat. Tell me about this memory loss."

Doo sat carefully. "The three of us and your wife all have one major thing in common, and that thing is that we can perform magic," he started, smiling grimly when Demmy whipped around to stare at him. "Believe it, Demmy. You are a wizard."

"Another thing we all share in common," Tonks continued, "is that we all fought on the same side in a war that damaged our world. We were, in fact, on the side that _lost_ that war."

Demmy sat in an empty chair at the table. "You're telling me that Rox's little fantasy tales are all true?"

Doo frowned, leaning forward. "What sorts of tales does she tell?"

"She tells of a mad-man who wished to rule the world and of a young man who she swore she'd known once who was that world's only hope. She tells tales of using magic wands and fighting evil men and women who would kill us if we didn't fight back," Demmy whispered. "She speaks no names, but you can tell she remembers them all. She's seen horrors that she will not speak of to me, says it is best I have forgotten them."

"Oh, he's _not_ going to be happy," Tonks whispered, staring in horror at Doo.

Doo rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "He'll get over it," he decided, waving a hand idly at Tonks before looking back at Demmy. "When's Rox getting off?"

Demmy glanced down at his watch. "Any moment now, I think. She has a tea break built in to her schedule."

Doo nodded. "I'd like to speak with her, then, when she gets here. We'll save the reason for our visit until then as well."

"Okay..." Demmy stood again and went over to get some biscuits and cups out for tea.

As Demmy was pouring the tea into four cups, the door opened and Luna stepped in. "Guests?" she inquired of her husband.

"Just some very old friends, actually," Doo offered, turning in his seat to meet the startled blue eyes of his friend.

"Harry?"

"It's good to see you again, Luna," Doo inclined his head.

Luna's hand went over her mouth and she stared at him for a long moment before she murmured, "I thought he'd killed you..."

"He did, but Albus and I had a back-up plan."

"Oh, Merlin..." Luna stepped up and touched the side of Doo's face gently, staring into his eyes for a long moment before hugging him tightly. "I can't believe you're still alive. I can't believe it."

Doo hugged Luna back just as tightly, drawing in a deep breath. "Believe it, little miss," he whispered, running soothing fingers through her hair. "I'm back and you're not getting rid of me again."

Demmy cleared his throat. "Rox, why don't you sit?"

Luna let go of Doo reluctantly and settled into the open seat between Tonks and her husband. "Wow. Tonks, is that you?"

"Ha! She caught me!" Tonks laughed, grabbing a cup of tea.

Both Doo and Luna moved at the same time to keep the tea from spilling, Doo going for the cup while Luna grabbed a napkin. "Tonks, do me a favour and calm down," Doo offered dryly, setting the cup down and out of harm's way.

"Sorry, Doo-man," Tonks murmured, accepting the napkin from Luna and using it to clean up the small mess that had been made.

"Doo?" Luna frowned at her old friend.

Doo grimaced. "I, like Demmy, was hit with the spell Voldemort cast."

Luna's eyes darkened. "So Voldemort _was_ the one to cast the spell."

"Who else could have pulled it off?" Tonks snorted, picking up her tea again and taking a careful sip.

"True," Luna bit into a biscuit. "So, what brings you two out here?"

Doo sighed. "You're not going to like this."

"Why don't you tell me what it is and I'll decide whether I like it or not," Luna retorted. Demmy stared at his wife, obviously not used to her more outgoing personality.

"Voldemort was the one to return my memories," Doo started, holding up a hand to forestall Luna's response to that. "No, listen. As a result of the spell that kept me from dying, I am able to speak to Albus even though he is dead. He has told me that Lucius Malfoy has made a pact with the daemons and, yes, I know, you told me so. If we want our world to remain intact, we must all work together - Light and Dark - or we will all die. Tonks and I came here seeking your help."

Luna gave Doo a strange look. "Why are you helping Voldemort?"

Doo sighed. "Because I swore a Wizard's Oath."

Luna blanched. "What?" she whispered. "Harry, how could you? He's _Voldemort_! He killed your parents and Ron and Fred and George and-"

"I know!" Doo looked away. "I know that. I'm not sorry, though. I like working with him, okay? He's a fine person when he's not trying to kill you."

"Harry, Voldemort is not a 'fine person'. He simply can't be. It's not in his nature." Luna sighed.

"He's different now." Doo shook his head.

"He is," Tonks agreed softly, stepping in carefully. "He's not the Voldemort we once fought. He's a bit kinder now. It's crazy, but true."

Luna shook her head. "I cannot believe it. I've spent most of my life hating him. I cannot simply give it all up."

"I didn't think I could either," Tonks whispered urgently. "I was kept in his _dungeons_, Luna. I cannot forgive the man, but I will work with him to save my world. I will work with him so I can keep seeing those I once would have died for again. I will work with him so I and others have a future."

Luna let out a heavy sigh. "What does Albus say?"

"He says to work with him," Doo replied, voice empty of emotion. "He knows it is the only way."

Luna nodded again. "So the Traitor has called upon the Forgotten and the Light and the Dark are to mingle so the Worlds can survive."

"Her last prophesy," Doo murmured, looking down into his tea. "A pity we won't know the outcome until it's here."

"Wait." Tonks set her cup down, frowning between the two. "What prophesy is that?"

"Professor Trelawney spoke it just hours before the Final Battle. Luna and I were the only ones to hear it," Doo said, shaking his head sadly.

Tonks choked. "You didn't tell him about it?"

"No. He didn't need to know." Doo stood. "I need some fresh air. Excuse me."

"Don't do anything stupid. I don't want Marvolo on my arse because you're in the hospital again, thanks," Tonks called.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Doo shot back before stepping from the cabin.

"He was in the hospital?" Luna frowned at her fellow witch.

"He tried to kill himself," Tonks agreed tiredly.

"Why?" Demmy asked, glancing up from his tea, which he'd been contemplating through-out the conversation.

Tonks shrugged. "It had something to do with his ex-boyfriend, Zack Palmer, from what Marvolo says."

"Zack Palmer?" Luna whispered, eyes wide in horror.

"Yeah." Tonks turned to the blonde woman. "Why?"

"Shit," was all Luna said before pushing away from the table and sprinting from the cabin. Demmy and Tonks traded looks before following her.

-/-

"I'm just seeing you everywhere now, aren't I, Dooley?"

Doo turned and frowned at his ex-boyfriend. "Oh, piss off, Palmer," he muttered before turning away and continuing his walk along the battery walls.

Zack's hand snapped out and grabbed Doo's shoulder, forcing him to spin in place. "Your little guard isn't here this time, Dooley."

Doo's eyes narrowed. "I don't need Tom around to deal with scum as low on the food chain as yourself, Palmer," he spat, tearing out of the other's grasp as Zack stared at him in shock. "Now. Piss off." Doo turned back around and continued on his way.

Zack's face turned ugly. "Get back here, Dooley. I'm not done talking to you."

"Piss off," Doo tossed over his shoulder coldly.

"Harry!"

Doo turned then and smiled at Luna as she quickly passed Zack and stopped next to him. "How did I know you'd follow me?"

"Because you know me too well," Luna replied, tossing a fat lock of hair over one shoulder. "Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Of course not. You're the tour guide, after all."

Luna laughed. "And you're the crazy one." She stepped up and kissed his cheek. "Idiot."

"Am not!"

"Yes you are." Luna looped her arm with Doo's. "And don't argue with me. I've known you for over a decade now."

"So you have," Harry agreed, chuckling.

"Making moves on girls now, I see," Zack said, suddenly stepping in front of Doo and Luna, making them stop to avoid a collision.

Doo gave the other man a cold look. "No, Palmer. I am merely spending time with a friend that I haven't seen in over a decade. Regaining one's lost memory will make one want to do that."

"You little shit." Zack's eyes narrowed and he reached out to smack Doo.

Doo grabbed his hand before it touched him and, letting go of Luna, easily twisted the larger man's arm around behind his back. "Remember, Zack," he whispered in the other's ear. "I lived through a war in my youth. I know ways to torture a person that would make even you break down into sobs. If you do not piss off, I will be sorely tempted to practice a few upon you. And trust me when I say that Luna won't bother trying to stop me. She'd probably help me, actually." Doo let go of Zack and stepped around him calmly to meet the wild brown eyes. "Now, for the last time," he said in a deceptively calm voice. "Piss. Off."

Zack ran for his life.

"What in Merlin's name did you say to him?" Tonks laughed as she and Demmy finally caught up.

Doo cocked an eyebrow at the Metamorphmagus. "I took a page out of Tom's book and pointed out that I have now recovered all of my memories from the war that I lived through, including the various torture methods I'd been faced with."

"He is _such_ a bad influence on you, Doo-man."

"Nick's a rather bad influence on _you_, Tonks," Doo replied with a laugh.

"Hey, Doo?"

"What's up, Demmy?"

"Would I be getting my memories back if I joined your lot?"

"Demmy!" Luna turned to her husband with a horrified look.

"I don't know yet." Doo sighed. "Voldemort doesn't want to, and I'm not fond of making you and Hertha re-live that hell, but Albus says it's best if you do remember." He looked out over the empty greenland outside the castle walls sadly. "Tom's right, though. We'll have to trust Albus. He's the only one with easy access to Merlin, and Merlin was the one to seal the daemons in the first place..."

Luna settled a gentle hand on Doo's shoulder, smiling when he turned to look at her. "I, Luna Lovegood Longbottom, hereby swear on the magic within me that I will stand by one Harry James Potter and support him in his work to save the world we grew up in together."

Doo felt his heart jump up into his throat and reached out to pull Luna into a hug. "Thanks, Luna."

"Just like old times," Luna whispered.

"So it is," Doo agreed regretfully.

"We'll return with you," Luna decided, stepping away from the hug. "Let us just tell the owner of the castle that we're going on a vacation."

"What makes you think we'll be letting you come back?" Tonks laughed.

"Careful, Tonks," Doo chuckled. "Demmy knows a bunch of good attack plants."

All four laughed.

-/-

"I'm impressed."

"Watch it, Voldemort," Luna spat, glaring at the Dark Lord who was leaning against the wall outside the rooms Syna had lent the two old Order members within the school. "Just because I have to work with you does not mean that I will ever forgive you for the deaths and torture you made us suffer through."

Tom's eyes shot up to Doo. "You promised not to break the spell on them."

"He didn't have to," Luna hissed. "I could _never_ forget the murder and chaos you rent. Don't you _dare_ blame things upon Harry that are not his fault."

"You little-"

Doo stepped between Luna and Tom quickly. "Tom, stop. Luna has agreed to help us. Don't hex her and ruin it."

"I want a Wizard's Oath from her!"

"She's already made one," Tonks offered non-chalantly. "Like me, she chose to make it to Doo, rather than your slimy self."

"Tonks, enough," Doo warned, keeping his eyes locked with the Dark Lord. "Why don't you help Luna and Demmy move in?"

"Fine. Come on, you two."

"Why didn't the spell affect her?" Tom asked coldly once Tonks, Luna, and Demmy had disappeared into the rooms.

"I don't know."

"She needs to be restrained."

"You need to calm down."

"I _am_ calm."

"No, you're not," Doo shook his head. "You're boiling mad. Calm down."

Scarlet eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you telling me what to do, Tarrant?"

Doo stepped forward until he was almost touching the Dark Lord, then he laid his head down on the man's chest wearily, closing his eyes. "I'm tired."

Tom slipped his arms around the smaller man and supported him with ease. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"We saw Zack in Stirling."

"I'll murder him if he did something to you." Tom ran a gentle hand through Doo's hair.

"No. I scared him off."

"Good for you," Tom declared, then picked the smaller man up.

"Put me down!"

"Nope." Tom smiled at the annoyed Doo. "I thought you were tired?"

"Put me down!" Doo cried again as Tom started away from the rooms Luna and Demmy had been given and towards his own.

"Sleep, Doo," the Dark Lord murmured, pressing his lips to the empty patch in the centre of Doo's forehead where he'd marked the man over thirty years prior.

Doo gripped Tom's robes in his hands and rested his head against the other's shoulder. "M'k."

-/-

"I still don't like him," Luna declared softly as she and Tonks watched the Dark Lord carry Doo off to bed.

"I never said you had to."

"But Harry cares for him."

"Yes."

"And he cares for Harry?"

"Very much so, yes."

"Then, for Harry, I will put up with him."

"That's all I can ask."

"Good night, Tonks."

"Good night, Luna."

-/-

-/-

**A/N:** All those 'good night's! I'm tired now!

College is taking up more and more of my free time. Expect another long wait before this is updated again and, perhaps, college and I will start agreeing again and I'll be able to write the next chapter faster than you expect!

Review replies can be found at batsutousai . livejournal . com once I get off my arse and put 'em up.

Bats


	13. Twelve: A New Bond

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** I don't feel like arguing with magickmaker17, so it's unbetaed.  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry)  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** My roommate talks in her sleep. -giggles insanely-

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** There's a lemon in this chapter. To get to a place where you can read the whole damn thing, go to HPFandom . net and find me under Batsutousai, or go to the LJ post at batsutousai dot livejournal dot com slash 26856 dot html  
  
And, yeah. Sorry this took so long. Doo didn't want to cooperate.

-------------------

Chapter Twelve  
A New Bond

-------------------

"I want to be able to know what you're thinking again."

Doo blinked up at the Dark Lord from where he sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded by maps and books open to pages that told of the daemons. "I'm sorry." He turned back to the book he'd been reading.

"Come on, Doo."

Doo glanced up at the Dark Lord again. "_Why_? Isn't just _asking me_ like any other person enough for you?"

"No."

Doo rolled his eyes. "Fine. You find a spell that will do what you want and I'll consider it."

Tom's eyes lit up and he slipped from the room with a grin, leaving Doo to return to his reading in peace.

-/-

"Here," Tom said, setting an open book down in front of Doo with a big grin that night in the Great Hall.

Doo frowned as Tom took his seat next to him. "What's this?"

"I found a spell," Tom replied, serving himself some roast beef.

"For what?"

The Dark Lord turned to Doo with a faintly annoyed look. "So I can hear what you're thinking."

Doo let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't expect you to find anything..."

"You mean you didn't _want_ me to find anything!"

"No, I didn't, now that you mention it," Doo replied tightly.

"Fight in your ovn room, not at the table," Syna leaned over to hiss.

"We're not-" Tom started.

"Yes you are. Nov shut up." Syna turned back to her own plate.

"Ah-ha," Doo offered, closing the book Tom had brought and putting it gently to one side.

"We'll talk later," Tom assured the white-haired wizard.

"If you say so," came the idle reply.

The Dark Lord growled into his meal.

-/-

"Why _don't_ you want me in your mind? Have secrets?" Tom asked in a cold voice. He and Doo were seated before the fireplace with cups of tea after agreeing that they needed to sit down and talk.

"I don't know about you, but I enjoy keeping some of my thoughts to myself," Doo replied evenly, eyes gazing into the dancing flames.

"So keep them to yourself!"

Doo glanced over at the scowling Dark Lord curiously. "Why are you so insistent, Tom?"

"I already told you. I miss being able to hear your thoughts."

"Yes, okay." Doo nodded in understanding. "But _why_?"

Tom glanced away and shrugged, obviously uncomfortable.

Doo sighed. "Tom, I already know you're a general jackarse and that you have feelings, just like any other human. Now will you _please_ tell me why you feel the need to know what I'm thinking?"

Tom turned back to Doo, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I'm a jackarse, am I?"

"Most certainly," Doo agreed, rolling his eyes.

Tom shook his head, laughter dancing in his eyes. "Brat."

Doo smiled faintly, even as his voice fell to a sort of neutral tone. "Come on, Tom."

Tom's amusement faded rather suddenly. "I'm worried about you, that's all. You have this ability to go off into this other plane and I can't follow you. It scares me." He glanced away.

Doo set his cup down and leaned forward, brushing a hand against the Dark Lord's cheek. "Tom, look at me. Please?"

"At least you haven't laughed at me yet," Tom murmured, glancing up at the impossibly green eyes.

Doo smiled faintly. "I'm not going to laugh at you," he promised before leaning forward and kissing the older man.

Tom's eyes slid closed and he kissed back, gently allowing one hand to clench tightly in the other's pale-white hair, which was free from it's usual ponytail. As they pulled apart, Tom whispered, "Please, Doo."

Doo stared into the worried scarlet eyes before nodding slowly. "What does this spell involve?"

Tom pulled out the book from earlier and easily opened it to the correct page. He passed it over to Doo after a moment's hesitation. "It's the only one that I found that would do what I wanted," he explained.

Doo read over the spell with a sigh. He should have known that such a spell would need joining between two bodies. They had already shared blood - the war had seen to that - so that wouldn't work, and another Killing Curse was _not_ on Doo's list of ways to rejoin their minds. Semen was the only thing left. "And that our past experiences wouldn't interfere with," Doo added, closing the book and glancing over at the Dark Lord seriously. "If we're going to do this, I want a promise from you."

Tom swallowed hard. "Yes?"

"I have things I want to keep to myself - you were quite right about that - I want you to promise to let my memories be unless I let you see them."

Tom nodded. "As long as you will share that allowance with myself."

A playful smile danced across Doo's face. "I don't want to know most of your thoughts, anyway. They're likely to give me more nightmares than I have already."

Tom smirked. "How about I share some with you anyway," he offered coolly as he stood.

Doo stood as well, smiling. "Depends what they are, Mr Marvolo."

"Well, there was this amazing dream I had just last night," he whispered, tugging Doo up and against him, "of you, lying naked on the ground and begging me to take you," Tom finished huskily, before leaning down and smashing their lips together.

Doo groaned into the elder wizard's mouth as his tongue lost the duel against the other's and long, sensual fingers danced over his back and sides on the wrong side of Doo's robe - as far as both men were concerned.

They pulled apart after a long moment and just stared at one another for a few brief seconds. As if they'd heard a signal, both pulled off their robes and threw them into a pile on the ground in front of the fire. Shortly after, Doo's back rested against the robes while Tom straddled his waist with a hungry smirk.

"What?" Doo asked, feeling breathless. _'Gods, but Tom is gorgeous.'_

Tom slid the tips of his fingers down Doo's chest and abdomen, ignoring the necklace with Merlin's crest that Doo still wore. "You, Dooley Tarrant, are absolutely perfect," he informed his soon-to-be lover.

Doo felt his cheeks heat up. Even with his old memories back, his scars still bothered him, perhaps even more so. "Not," he mumbled.

Tom leaned down and kissed the other sharply. "You _are_. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever set eyes on." His lips moved over to brush against Doo's ear. **:And you are all mine:** he whispered before taking Doo's earlobe between his lips and sucking on it.

Doo moaned and his hands came up. One tangled in Tom's hair while the other slid between them to cautiously fondle the other'smember and balls.

Tom let out a hiss and grabbed Doo's errant hand. "No," he ordered.

Doo growled, but didn't move his hand back to Tom's nether regions when it was freed. Instead, he pulled Tom back down for a kiss and demanded command. Tom allowed Doo control of the kiss, smiling faintly. _'How did I know that two dominates would be a problem?'_

**_Cut to keep FFN happy - link is at the top of the chapter. XP_**

As the two felt their climaxes coming, they started speaking the spell they needed for the bond to be completed, "_Permissum nos duos fio unus per is vinculum inter mens quod animus_." As they finished speaking, both let out cries as they came and the world around them flared with whiteness.

The bond had been made.

-/-

_'This is an interesting new development,' Albus commented, his voice filled with laughter._

_'You!'_

_Doo rolled his eyes and grabbed Tom about the waist as he made to lunge at the dead man. 'Tom Marvolo Riddle, you **will** calm down.'_

_Tom scowled, but stopped trying to go for Albus. Instead, he settled on glaring at the ancient wizard._

_'Albus, why is it that Tom came?' Doo inquired._

_Albus cocked his head to one side, a sly smile touching his lips. 'My dear child, what did you two do before you came here?'_

_Doo blushed a bright red. 'Oh. Yeah...'_

_'Humph. This is a much better consequence to the spell than I expected,' Tom murmured, eyes bright with laughter as he tugged gently on a lock of Doo's hair. 'Now I can keep my eyes on you.'_

_Doo retaliated by elbowing his lover in the gut. 'Piss off.'_

_Albus laughed. 'Some things never really change, do they?'_

_Doo smacked his forehead when Tom turned back to glare at Albus. 'Tom, you are **so** immature sometimes,' he informed the Dark Lord before shooting Albus a worried look. 'What's up, Albus?'_

_Albus' smiling eyes turned serious sharply. 'We found two more. They work together at Culross Primary School, though they're nothing more than acquaintances.'_

_'Which two?' Doo asked, frowning. 'And what do they teach?'_

_'Dean Thomas, who teaches Art, and Minerva McGonagall, who teaches Latin.'_

_'But-!' Doo shook his head sharply. 'I thought Severus killed Professor McGonagall!'_

_'Hardly,' Tom offered with a snort. 'He had a crush on her in his years at Hogwarts and didn't want to kill her, so he just gave her a nasty blow with a Stunner.'_

_Doo shook his head. 'I don't want to know how you found all this out, do I?'_

_'Probably not,' Tom agreed cheerfully._

_Doo and Albus traded amused looks. 'I'll do what I can, Albus.'_

_'And I'll keep him from getting killed,' Tom added with a smirk._

_'Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tom.'_

_Albus' laughter followed them back to their separate dreams in the world of the living._

-/-

Doo woke slowly, feeling well-rested for what felt like the first time in ages. With a smile, he realized that it probably had something to do with the man who had wrapped his arms around him protectively. And Doo had to admit - even if it was only to himself - that he did, indeed, feel safe in the embrace of his old nemesis. _'How strange.'_

_'What is?'_ Tom asked tiredly.

Doo smiled as the Dark Lord's eyes fluttered open. "Nothing." He leaned up a placed a gentle kiss on the other's lips. "Can I get up and use the loo?"

Tom let Doo go and watched as he slipped into the bathroom with a strange smile. _'I could get used to waking up with kisses,'_ he sent to the white-haired man.

Doo's laughter rang through both the room and their minds. _'I'll see what I can do.'_ The toilet flushed and Doo stepped back out into the room, eyes serious as he leaned against the door frame. "Getting Dean and Professor McGonagall will have to wait until tomorrow, since today is Sunday and I don't fancy trying to hunt them down away from their job."

"Agreed." Tom stood and stretched. "So what are we going to do. Not more research, I hope."

Doo's serious look didn't falter. "Tom, if you want out of research, I'll need the help of Hertha, which means that she'll have to know what happened."

Tom blanched, then sighed. "You want me to give Hertha and Demmy back their memories."

"It would be nice," Doo agreed.

Tom glanced up at the ceiling and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Fine. We'll drop by your store and you lot can research there. I need to get information out of Goyle and corner Lucius."

Doo's eyes widened. "I thought you were going to let Lucius continue his evil ways."

"No, I'm going to warn him that I'm on to him, then see what he does," Tom corrected.

"I really don't like that idea," Doo offered honestly. "But I know you can take care of yourself."

Tom stepped forward and slipped his arms around Doo's waist, pulling the younger wizard against him. "I can handle Lucius, Doo. I promise that, if something happens and I find myself in danger, I'll leave. Okay?"

Doo rested his head against Tom's chest, closing his eyes sadly. "K."

Tom sighed and tightened his arms around Doo, resting his chin on the other's head. _'I love you.'_

When Doo replied, his mind voice was choked with fear. _'I love you too, Tom.'_

Tom closed his eyes and just held Doo, not knowing what else he could do.

-/-

Doo opened the door of his shop - he'd left it closed for the day - and smiled at Hertha. "Come on in."

Hertha smiled back, falling into step next to Doo as he led the way to the door to his flat. "So, what exactly do you need from me that needs me to leave Renny with a friend, hm?"

Doo's face fell. "Tom agreed to give you back your memories. I didn't think you'd want Renny here for that."

Hertha froze mid-step. "I... How come?"

Doo glanced back at the woman sadly. "We're at war, sort of, and we need all the help we can get. You were our researcher during the war and I _desperately_ need your help."

Hertha frowned at this man whom she had known once before, and knew again. It was strange to think that this one man was the reason that she would remember the past she'd been forced to forget. It was stranger still to remember the way he'd begged her not to do this very thing - to remember the horrors she'd once faced with him. A thought crept into her mind; _'How many times has this man changed my life as drastically as he's doing right now?'_ She sighed. "Well, I _did_ want this..." she decided quietly.

Doo's eyes remained sad. "Come on," he murmured, then started up the stairs.

Hertha felt horrible. Obviously, Doo didn't want her to remember the war - it was in his nature to be protective of others - but consequences had ripped the decision from his grasp and he hated it. She followed him up the stairs quietly.

As they stepped out into Doo's flat, there was a shout of joy, then Hertha found herself almost being bowled over by a woman with long blonde hair and huge blue eyes which had filled with tears of joy. "Hermione!"

"Ms Longbottom, I hardly think that Ms Riddock knows who you are," Tom offered dryly from where he stood next to the couch Demmy sat on.

"Tom, stop it," Doo sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hertha, this is Luna Longbottom - known more commonly as Rox Gardner. This over here is her husband, Demetrius Gardner. Demmy, Luna, this is Hertha Riddock."

Hertha was giving Luna a strange look. "What did you call me?" she asked the woman.

"Hermione?" Luna replied uncertainly.

Hertha gave Tom a sharp look. "So _I'm_ the reason you cursed us."

"Yeah. So?" Tom replied, scowling.

"Hertha, you're also the reason we're alive," Doo pointed out gently as he rested a hand on Tom's arm. _'What's wrong?'_

_'I don't like people snapping at me,'_ Tom replied tightly.

Doo sighed, he doubted that was the real reason his lover was being so sharp, but he let it go. "Hertha, Tom agreed to remove the block from both you and Demmy. Luna never forgot to begin with, so she's going to keep Demmy from freaking out while I do the same for you." His smile was bitter.

"You really think we'll freak out?" Demmy asked softly.

Luna and Doo traded looks. "Positive," Luna answered quietly.

"No time like the present," Tom chirped with false cheer. "Ms Riddock, if you could sit in this other couch over here?" He waited until Hertha had sat on the free couch with Doo and Luna had returned to Demmy's side, then drew his wand. "Who's first?"

"You're not doing it simultaneously?" Luna demanded hotly.

"Not across the room," Doo slipped in gently. "Luna, not even Albus or I could have pulled such a feat off. I would help him, but Tonks isn't here to help."

"Where _is_ Tonks?" Hertha inquired.

"Helping Syna at the school," Demmy offered. "Something about rooting out more trouble-makers."

"The rebellion." Hertha nodded in understanding. Even without her memories, she was quick to pick things up.

"As long as she's out of my hair," Doo joked. Demmy, Luna, and Hertha smiled knowingly.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Are we flipping a Knut?"

"A what?" Demmy and Hertha chorused.

"A coin," Doo clarified.

"We...could..." Luna murmured.

"No, I'll go first," Hertha volunteered, steeling herself for a load of mental pain.

Tom turned his wand on the woman. "_Confringo!_"

Hertha drew in a sharp breath, then slammed her eyes shut and clutched at her head, as if she were in pain. Doo slipped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. He remembered what it had been like to suddenly get all his memories back.

Tom turned to Demmy once he was sure Doo could handle Hertha. "Ready?"

Demmy straightened his back and bravely met the Dark Lord's eyes. "No, but, then again, I doubt I ever will be."

Tom nodded and pointed his wand at the ex-Gryffindor. "_Confringo!_"

Demmy let out a strangled sound as his memories came rushing back and he followed Hertha's example of clutching at his head. Luna pulled his head to her chest and rocked him gently.

Tom swayed on his feet, feeling slightly dizzy. _'Maybe I shouldn't have broken them both one right after another...'_ he thought tiredly, letting himself fall into an empty chair. He glanced up when he felt eyes on him and offered Doo a tired smile. _'I'll be fine.'_

Doo was about to shoot back a sharp reply when Hertha finally burst into tears next to him. "Hertha, shush..." he whispered starting to rock her gently. "It's all over now."

Intelligent brown eyes looked up at him. "It's not," she whispered. "The war continues even in this new government, Dooley."

Doo shuddered. "Yes," he agreed softly, brushing her bushy hair out of her face. "But we won't lose this time."

Hertha's gaze sharpened. "No. We won't." Then she looked over Doo's shoulder, eyes widening. "Tom!"

Doo swung around and stood sharply when he saw that Tom had managed to not only faint in the chair, but slide from it into a pile of limbs on the ground. "Tom Marvolo, you utter fool," he groaned, kneeling next to his lover and poking his cheek. _'Tom, love, you need to wake up,'_ he tried.

Tom's eyelids fluttered in response, but he didn't waken.

"What's wrong with the arse?" Luna asked, voice touched with spite.

"He overworked himself," Doo replied, ignoring Luna's tone.

Hertha knelt next to Doo. "Want help putting him to bed?"

A relieved smile dashed across Doo's face. "Yes, actually."

Together, Doo and Hertha hoisted Tom between them and slowly dragged him into Doo's room. Luna brushed past them when they were about half way between the bed and the door and pulled the sheets back. Doo smiled thankfully at her and Luna scowled.

Luna and Hertha slipped back out into the main room while Doo took off Tom's shoes and socks and tucked him in. Just as he was turning to leave, Tom's hand shot out and clutched at Doo's arm. Doo turned back and sat on the edge of the bed, smiling down at his exhausted lover. "You need to sleep, Tom."

Tom sighed. "Lucius-"

"Deal with him later," Doo replied, shaking his head firmly. "You're in no shape to argue with him right now."

Tom closed his eyes in defeat. "Their wands are in my pocket," he whispered.

Doo slipped a hand under the covers and pulled the three wands out, then dropped a gentle kiss on Tom's lips. "Sleep, love."

"I'm trying to," Tom grumbled.

Doo smiled and left him to sleep, leaving the door open only a crack. He turned to his friends with a faintly concerned smile. "Everyone okay?"

"Yes." Demmy smiled back.

"You said something about research?" Hertha inquired, also smiling.

Doo nodded and walked over to them. "Yeah, we need to research daemons. Tom and I brought a bunch of books over here earlier and put them on the bookcases behind you."

"What exactly do we need to find out about them?" Hertha inquired, quickly slipping into her old position of head researcher.

"Anything and everything. We're mostly looking for ways to defeat them, but our knowledge about them is so little as it is that anything might help." Doo rubbed at the bridge of his nose wearily, then held out their wands. "Here. Tom must have picked them up yesterday."

Luna, Hertha, and Demmy all took their wands, then glanced up at him curiously. Doo easily read the question in their eyes. "He saved all the wands he could. I don't know why, I never asked him."

"Do you have yours?" Luna inquired.

Doo pulled his wand out of his back pocket. "He gave it to me after he unblocked my memories."

Hertha's lips curled into a smirk. "Planning on loosing a buttock?"

The four old friends laughed over Mad-Eye Moody's crazy warning.

"Shall we?" Luna asked once they'd all calmed down again.

"Let's," Hertha agreed seriously.

Falling into silence, the four stood and grabbed some books, then got to work around the dinning table, where Doo had placed a pile of notebooks and pens earlier.

-/-

When Tom woke a good four hours later, he found the group still hard at work. Glasses of water sat next to each of them - each obviously spelled to remain full - and an empty tray lay buried under a couple books in the middle of the table. Quietly, Tom unburied the tray and took it back into the kitchen, where he then set it next to the empty sink.

Doo glanced over as Tom pulled up a chair next to him. _'You look better.'_

_'I suppose I feel better, too,'_ Tom allowed, then covered a yawn. _'Found anything yet?'_

_'Nothing that I didn't already know from hanging out with Luna so much or from the research I was doing yesterday,'_ Doo admitted, sounding a little angry with himself.

Tom let out a snort and stood. "Everyone up. We're going to take a break."

"Who are you to order us around?" Luna snapped, looking agitated.

Doo stood silently as Tom smirked. "I, Ms Gardner, am the Dark Lord. I'm telling you that all of you look like you need a break from this. Up."

Doo hid a smile as his friends got to their feet, groaning. "It's a nice day out, how about we all go for a walk?"

Hertha glanced at the clock, then winced. "I should check up on Renny, anyway."

Doo chuckled. "See, Hertha. This is why we didn't want you to have any children - you're likely to forget all about them while you're caught up in some book or another."

Everyone shared a laugh over that one, even Tom. "Well, I'm not totally hopeless, am I?" Hertha asked, smiling. "I remembered about him, didn't I?"

"When did you have a son, Hertha?" Demmy asked as the five magical persons headed for the stairs down to the shop, Doo and Tom bringing up the rear while Hertha led.

"Brian and I realized I was pregnant about a month before the Final Battle. We were going to make the announcement after the war was over." Hertha's face fell briefly. "Plans kind of fell through, I guess."

"Who were you going to name godparents?" Luna asked, trying to brighten the mood.

"Harry and Ginny." Hertha's face split into a large smile. "Lavender never would have forgiven me, had she still been alive."

"I'm sorry," Tom's whispered words filled the silence of the shop just before Hertha opened the door. Startled, Hertha, Demmy, and Luna turned to stare at the Dark Lord. Tom's head was bowed and he had closed his eyes. Doo looked worried next to him.

"Tom," Hertha called sternly, folding her arms across her chest. She waited until the upset wizard was looking at her before continuing. "It was war. If our positions had been switched, we probably would have destroyed everything you loved as well."

"Silentenim leges inter arma," Demmy murmured.

"Laws are silent in times of war," Luna, Hertha, and Doo replied solemnly.

Tom blinked. "What-?"

"It was our motto, sort of," Demmy explained softly. "When one of our friends died, that was what we would say to one another. When one of us would kill a Death Eater, that was what we'd say to one another."

"It was our way to keep from falling apart," Doo corrected firmly, then glanced over at Tom. "Albus came up with it after you destroyed the Ministry building. I think he meant it mostly to help the younger students, who were terrified, but it ended up evolving into a phrase that meant 'I'm sorry for your loss, but we're all facing losses here and we must continue to be strong or we'll be lost too'."

"The Light was nothing if not supportive of their own," Tom murmured.

"That's one way to look at it," Demmy agreed.

Doo nodded. "Shall we?" He nodded towards the door handle, where Hertha's hand still rested.

Hertha stared quietly at Tom for a long moment. It wasn't until he started to shift slightly that she turned away and pushed open the door. "Come on. He's down at Betty Lawrence's house," she said, stepping outside.

Doo's lips twisted with a smile as everyone piled out. "Watch out for water ballons," he offered, locking up his shop.

Hertha laughed while the others looked between the two old friends oddly. "Josh, Betty's son, likes making water ballons and throwing them at visitors," Hertha explained once she'd regained control of herself.

Tom let out a snort of amusement while Luna and Demmy smiled. "Children," the Dark Lord offered with mock annoyance. Everyone laughed at that.

-/-

-/-

**A/N:** Next chapter brings in Minerva and Dean. Wheee.

**LATIN:**  
_Permissum nos duos fio unus per is vinculum inter mens quod animus_ - Let us two become one through this bond between mind and soul

-looks longingly at her bed- Bu-bye, minna.  
Bats  
Updates and excuses can be found at batsutousai . livejournal . com!


	14. Thirteen: Culross and Her Staff

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** magickmaker17  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo (Harry), Luna/Demmy (Neville), Logan (Dean)/OC  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU (we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** My job is fucking boring.

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** Gah. This has been half-way written for FAR too long... -.-

-------------------

Chapter Thirteen  
Culross and Her Staff

-------------------

When Doo woke, he found a haggard-looking Tom sitting at the table in the main room with a cup of tea. "You look dead," he commented, stepping into the kitchen and pulling open the door of the fridge to look for food.

"I got up early to write a warning for Lucius."

Doo glanced out into the main room, forehead creased with a question. "Write?"

"I didn't feel like getting caught up with arguing with him," Tom replied.

"Why ever not?" Doo inquired as he returned to the fridge.

Tom stood with a groan, grabbed his tea, and walked over to lean against the doorway of the kitchen. "Because I'm coming with you this time."

Doo gave the Dark Lord a sharp look. "You don't need to baby-sit me all the time, Tom. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, you know."

"I know." Tom shrugged. "Can I get away with saying that I just want to spend some time with you?"

Doo snorted in amusement. "No, but I suppose we'll let you think you can."

Tom laughed outright at that. "Brat," he said fondly, before turning and going back to the table with his tea.

Doo smiled to himself and pulled out a loaf of bread for toast.

-/-

When Tonks had learned that Tom would be going with to get Dean and McGonagall, she'd opted for doing some more research with Luna and Demmy - _anything_ to be away from "that hissing bastard". So it was just Tom and Doo that Apparated to an empty street near the school, Anti-Muggle Invisibility Charms in place upon their persons so as to not attract any unwanted attention from Muggles.

_'How are we doing this? It's not like we know the names they're using here,'_ Tom pointed out as they started for the school building.

_'We know what they teach,'_ Doo replied easily. _'In my primary school, I know there was only one art teacher and two Latin instructors. With any luck, Culross will be the same and we'll be able to recognize them with little or no trouble.'_

_'Brilliant plan, Tarrant,'_ Tom replied sarcastically.

Doo just rolled his eyes, not the least bit perturbed, and stepped through the front doors of the school, which they'd reached.

The two once-enemies slipped past the woman guarding the front door, then walked easily though the school, keeping their eyes peeled for the signs next to the classroom doors that told them what subject was taught inside and/or whom the teacher was. The only noises present in the echoing hallways came from inside the classrooms they passed, where students were being taught various subjects that they may or may not need later in life.

It was Tom who saw it first. _'Art.'_

Doo glanced through the window in the door, then stepped back. _'It's Dean, alright. He doesn't have a class right now, think we should go in?'_

Tom pursed his lips. _'You go in, I'll stay out here and play look-out.'_

Doo smiled. _'You just don't want to put up with anymore of my friends,'_ he claimed before leaning over and kissing Tom's cheek. _'Behave,'_ he added, then dropped his spell and knocked on the art room's door.

_'Behave, he says,'_ Tom muttered playfully. _'What do you think I'm going to do, Doo?'_

Doo fought to keep a straight face as the man he'd once known as Dean Thomas opened the door to his office. "Hello," he offered neutrally.

The darker-skinned man frowned. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"A chance to talk with you, if you please."

"Whatever it is you want, go away. I have a class in half an hour and I need to finish setting up," the man said, then moved to slam the door in Doo's face.

Doo caught the door with his foot and gave his once-dorm mate a hard look. "I know who you used to be," he stated firmly. "Please let me in."

Shock written all over his face, the man let Doo in.

Doo took a moment to look around the room while the man stared at him. He saw a name-plate and glanced back at his old friend. "Your name is Kenneth Logan?"

Kenneth snapped out of his stupor and was immediately in Doo's face, eyes furious. "Start talking before I rip you apart. Who told you about my amnesia?"

Doo crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "No one. And it's not amnesia, it's a magic spell that blocked your memories because we lost the war."

_'Dooley!'_ Tom's voice shouted in Doo's mind.

_'Trust me,'_ he replied softly as he watched Kenneth try and process what Doo had just told him.

Tom let out a growl, but otherwise remained silent.

"Kenneth?" Doo prodded after the man had been silent for a few minutes.

Kenneth's eyes seemed to refocus on Doo, then he spoke in a quiet voice. "A war? Magic?"

Doo nodded. "You and I, Kenneth, we're wizards. We went to school together at Hogwarts, a school for magical children not far from here. A little over ten years ago now, there was a war that tore our world - the magical world - apart. We two fought on the same side and, after we lost, our opponent cast a spell that blocked our memories so that, while we could continue to populate the magical world, we couldn't rise up against him."

Kenneth shook his head in not-quite disbelief. "How do you know all this?"

Doo sighed. "I recently met with our old enemy and we saw eye-to-eye. In an attempt to learn a few things, he unblocked my memories, so I now remember everything that happened. We have found, since then, that the whole world - magical and non-magical alike - is in danger and we need all the help we can get to save it, which means grabbing those who have forgotten."

Kenneth ran a hand down his face. "So, you need my help to save the world?"

"Again," Doo agreed with a grimace.

Kenneth let out a heavy sigh. "Can I think about it?"

Doo nodded. "I don't have a problem with that. Although, if you could help me find someone else, I'd be most grateful."

"If I can, sure," Kenneth agreed warily.

"Older woman who teaches Latin here?"

Kenneth frowned thoughtfully. "Minna Douglas?"

Doo shrugged. "I'm afraid I don't know what name she may be using now."

Kenneth nodded. "Well, she's the only female Latin teacher here. Both Leonard and Martin are male..." He paused. "No, I take that back. Rebecca teaches Latin, too, but she's a part-time grad student..."

"It'll be Minna, then," Doo decided with an amused smile. "What room is she in?"

"B seventeen. Turn left outside my door, then go right when you get to the fork down the hall. Her room's on the right, between Leonard and Eugene's rooms. If she's not there, try the teacher's lounge five doors down on the other side of the hall."

Doo nodded. "When's a good time for me to drop back by?"

Kenneth shrugged. "Don't. I'll come find you."

"Fair enough," Doo agreed, then turned towards the door. "I'll be seeing you later then, Kenneth."

"Yes, later..." Kenneth agreed. Just as Doo was about to open the door, though, Kenneth called, "Wait! What's your name?"

Doo smiled over his shoulder. "Dooley Tarrant." Then he slipped from the room and from sight as Tom recast the Invisibility Charm on him.

_'Come on.'_ Tom grabbed Doo's hand and led the way down the hall.

Doo quickened his pace so he wasn't being dragged. _'I'm sorry, Tom. That was just one of the fastest ways to get through to him without him murdering me.'_

Tom spun suddenly to face Doo, almost making the other run into him. _'I don't like having to put up with all of your little friends. I don't like having all my enemies coherent again. I don't like having to rely on Dumbledore for things. Most of all, I don't like it when people do things without telling me,'_ he hissed, false green eyes flashing.

Doo leaned forward and kissed Tom firmly before replying, _'I hate this as much as you do, Tom. If I knew a way to end this whole thing now, I would. I'm sorry.'_

Tom pulled Doo against him and hugged him tightly, relaxing slightly when Doo returned the hug. _'I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be getting angry at you.'_

Doo smiled at the Dark Lord. _'I know. It's **Lucius** who deserves your anger,'_ he teased. _'But we want the daemon he's helping too much to kill him off now, so you're stuck with just me.'_ He pulled away gently, not letting go of Tom's hand. _'Shall we go find Minna?'_

_'I suppose...'_ Tom agreed quietly. He didn't like how easily Doo had brushed off his little fit. But, then again, that was just like the green-eyed man. Harry Potter was quite used to bearing his fury, and Doo Tarrant wasn't really all that different from the man he'd once been in that respect - less so now then ever before.

With a silent growl, Tom pushed his thoughts to one side. He'd have plenty of time to think about his lover when Doo wasn't standing right there next to him.

-/-

Minna Douglas prided herself in being a cool thinker and a rather normal individual. She was stern, but not too stern, knew how to take a joke and would smile when it was called for. Very little startled her and, if her missing past bothered her, she certainly didn't let anyone else know.

So, when two strangers stepped calmly into the B hall teacher's lounge, she simply nodded to them calmly. When they started in her direction, she ignored them in favour of her book.

"Minna Douglas?" the smaller of the two asked, startlingly green eyes questioning and hopeful.

Minna looked up with a scowl. "What?" she asked coolly.

The green eyes lit up with a smile and he fell into the seat across from her. "Hi. I'm Doo Tarrant."

Minna frowned at the offered hand. "What do you want?"

Doo didn't seem the least perturbed by her unfriendliness. In fact, he just smiled and said, "I was just dropping by to see my old professor."

Minna tried not to gape. _'Old professor? I never taught this man! He's far too old! Unless...'_ Minna narrowed her eyes and quickly found her voice. "When exactly did you have me, young man?"

"Nineteen ninety-one to nineteen ninety-seven, though you probably don't remember any of that," Doo replied cheerfully.

"Wha-" Minna found herself unable to either finish her sentence or close her mouth.

The man who'd come in with Doo snorted. "Gryffindors."

Doo gave his companion a fond smile. "Don't knock it until you've tried it, Tom."

Tom crinkled his nose. "Perhaps not." Then he turned to Minna with a cool look. "Your name is actually Minerva McGonagall and you are, in fact, a witch. Ten years ago you taught at a magical school called Hogwarts. Doo was one of your students."

Minna shook her head. "Impossible."

"Is it?" Tom shot back before pulling out his wand and pointing it at her book. "_Accio_ Minna's book."

Minna found herself gaping again as her book flew into the man's outstretched hand. "Impos-"

"No, it's not. You just saw it, in fact," Tom replied sharply.

Doo stood then and got between Minna and Tom. _'You need to stop. I know you two had problems in school, but this is **not** Minerva McGonagall, Tom. Just as I am not Harry Potter,'_ Doo thought calmly as he gently pried the book from the Dark Lord's hands. Then he turned around and held it out to Minna with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about Tom. You two went to school together, you see, and didn't get along too well."

Minna clutched the book to her breast. She was staring at Tom in a fascinated sort of manner. "What else can you do?"

"No wonder she liked Hertha so much," Doo chuckled.

Tom silently turned the chair she sat on into an unsteady stool. "Lots of things," he replied coolly as Minna jumped off the stool quickly.

"_Tom,_" Doo said, exasperated.

Tom smirked, but put the chair back right before Doo yelled at him. "Yes, Doo?"

Doo rolled his eyes. "Bastard."

"Slytherin," Tom corrected.

Doo rolled his eyes again.

Minna hurriedly regained her unflappable self. "So, if I'm a witch, then why can't I do magic, or remember anything?"

"First, magic is _hardly_ the cure-all Muggles seem to think it is," Tom sniffed, looking rather insulted by the very thought.

Doo covered a smile and retained his earlier seat. "The chair won't bite, Minna," he offered, then shot Tom a sharp look. "At least, it had _better_ not bite."

Tom snorted. "I am above such childish pranks, thank you."

"What do you call a few moments ago?" Doo quizzed evenly.

"A relapse," Tom declared calmly.

Doo buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

Tom turned back to Minna, face expressionless. "As for your memory? There was a war about ten years ago in our world and you, along with Doo, happened to be on the loosing side. Your punishment was the blocking of your memories, along with the tapering of your magical powers - so you didn't have a burst of accidental magic in the middle of, say, London when there wasn't anyone around to clean up the resulting mess."

Silence reigned for a long moment before Minna said, "So, why have you two come here? I've been living just fine without all this insane knowledge about stuff I can't recall."

"Because they need our help, apparently," Kenneth said as he stepped into the lounge.

Doo grinned. "It's nice to know nothing really changes." In answer to the three questioning looks, he added, "Kenneth used to make a bad habit of listening at doors."

"I'm sure he wasn't the _only_ one," Tom said, giving Doo a pointed look.

Doo smirked. "Albus learned in my fifth year not to hide stuff from me, thanks."

"That old man can learn?"

"_Tom._"

Tom shrugged, then looked between Kenneth and Minna seriously. "Yes, we are in need of your help. Doo learned for me that one of my men is plotting against me with the help of a daemon. He intends to destroy the whole world to free the daemon world, which Merlin locked away centuries ago."

"We need all the help we can get," Doo added softly. "And while Tom doesn't trust a soul, I trust the people I once fought with. While you may have grudges with some of our allies, if we don't all learn to work together, we'll all die as sacrifices that will help the portal to be opened."

"So, basically, we agree to help you or we sit back and watch as our world falls into ruin," Kenneth translated coldly.

"I didn't mean to make it sound like an ultim-"

"Exactly," Tom cut in.

"Tom!"

Tom gave Doo a sharp look. "Dooley, by even _telling_ them of Lucius' plans, we are telling them that they can either help us fight against it, or help Lucius open that portal. In this fight, there is no side of neutrality. Lucius and his ally have drawn the battle-lines and we are left to gather our allies among those who don't trust us or who we don't trust."

Doo looked away. "I hate all this fighting. All my life, I've been fighting against something - you, the mind-block, and now Lucius."

Tom settled on the arm of Doo's chair and drew the pale-haired man against him. _'I swear, once this is all over, we're both moving to the Arctic for a long break from the rest of humanity.'_

_'Can we move to Mars instead?'_ Doo shot back, wrapping his arms back around Tom and leaning against him.

_'We can go wherever you want, Doo.'_

Minna let out a quiet cough and waited until she had both Tom and Doo's attention before stating, "I'll help however I can. My morals won't let me just sit back and watch as the children I teach are slowly killed off by something most of them no longer believe in."

"I quite agree," Kenneth added. "And I'm sure Bonnie, my wife, will agree. I don't want my unborn child to come into a world rent with death and sacrifice while I can still prevent it."

Doo's responding smile was watery. "Thank you. Both of you."

Tom nodded. "When is school out? Doo and I can take you, and Bonnie, to Hogwarts to meet the rest of our rag-tag group."

"Rag-tag?" Doo inquired.

"We've got Luna Lovegood, Severus Snape, Tonks Black, and Hertha Riddock all working together in a strange sort of peace - how is that not rag-tag?" Tom shot back, false green eyes laughing.

"Will we be receiving our memories back?" Minna asked coolly. "After all, we might know something useful."

"Yes. You will," Doo stated before Tom could even open his mouth. "But because it's such a painful and draining process, it'll have to wait until the weekend."

"Quite," Tom agreed, scowling. Doo smiled at him apologetically.

"That should do," Minna decided. Kenneth nodded his agreement.

So the four made plans for meeting up after school. Doo would take Kenneth home, pick up Bonnie, then Apparate them to the school. Tom would find Minna and Apparate her to Sherbet Lemon to pick up Hertha, Deva, and Nick. Doo knew it was probably a bad idea to let Nick and Tom at one another without his supervision for any extended length of time, but he hoped that Deva's presence would, at the very least, soften Nick's tongue.

-/-

-/-

**A/N:** Mah. I have issues with this chapter, like how short it is, but I wanna get it to my beta, not fight with it more.  
Then there was a betaing issue - magickmaker17 was having an issue remembering to send it, then find it on the comp, then... well, you get the idea. -.- I had to fight with it more. It sucked arse. -fury-

With luck, the court scene will be next chapter. Without luck, we'll have the way it turns out and I'll put more filler out of my arse. -.-

Give me reviews - I crave them like you wouldn't believe...Or perhaps your would...  
Bats


	15. Fourteen: Courting Your Fate

**Title:** The Forgotten  
**Author:** Batsutousai  
**Beta:** unbetaed to appease my loving readers.  
**Pairings:** OC/OC, Tom/Doo(Harry), Luna/Demmy(Neville), Logan(Dean)/OC  
**Warnings:** SLASH/YAOI, Character death, OOCness, AU(we all know Jo won't let this happen…), OCs  
**Summary:** What if Voldemort wins the "Final Battle," but Harry Potter survives?  
Living in the Muggle world with no memory of his past, can Harry find the key to saving them all?  
**Disclaim Her:** I think I've been watching too much Bleach... -sweatdrop-

**Key:**  
_'Thoughts'  
Writing_  
_¤Another language, like Bulgarian¤  
_**:Parseltongue:**

**A/N:** I'm such an American. -.- If anything in here is wrong - pertaining to the British way of running a court case - I'm sorry.

This was supposed to be up a couple days ago, but FFN's been having issues and I couldn't log in to post. Gomen

-------------------

Chapter Fourteen  
Courting Your Fate

-------------------

Doo, Tom, Nick, Deva, and what looked like the entirety of their town showed up in two large buses and a car on Tuesday morning at the courthouse in Glasgow. Somehow, they all managed to fit into the uncrowded courtroom, but there wasn't any room left afterwards and people were constantly complaining about the heat.

Tom and Doo met Wormtail beyond the small gate that was to keep their audience out. The lawyer bowed to Tom, then shot Doo a nervous look.

"Yes?" Doo cocked an eyebrow at the Animagus.

Wormtail twitched. "I'm sorry. It's just strange thinking of you alive still."

Doo smiled. "I know."

Tom snorted. "More like one's worst nightmare."

Doo jabbed the Dark Lord in the side with his elbow. "Hush, you."

Tom smiled faintly and Wormtail looked away, hand covering a too-large smile. Doo let out a snigger when Tom scowled at his Death Eater.

"I see you've brought some cattle with you, Tarrant," a cold voice offered behind them.

Tom started to rise, fury in his eyes at the sight of their opponent, but Doo calmly gripped the elder man's upper arm and shot his ex a cold look. "At least I have friends who support me in this case. Can you say the same, Zack Palmer?"

"The mere _idea_ of friends would make him _melt_," Nick spat from where he stood on the other side of the barrier that stopped him from punching Zack across the face.

"Just like the Vicked Vitch of the Vest. Hov appropriate," Deva offered from next to her boyfriend.

There was a cough and the group of hostile opponents looked up at the towering bailiff, who was giving them all stern looks. "Mr Palmer, I believe your lawyer is waiting for you." Zack shot Doo and his friends one last cold look before turning away.

"Richard Shortbow," Doo offered when Zack was gone, motioning to the other lawyer.

Wormtail's face broadened into a smirk that was very unlike him. "This will be fun," he said in response to the two strange looks he was getting from his client and Lord.

Doo cocked his head. "You've heard of Rick, then?"

"Yeah. He's famous enough to be known even in the law circles that _I_ frequent," Wormtail agreed. "My mates will _die_ when they heard that I fought a case against Richard Shortbow."

"Just don't loose," Tom warned coldly.

"Yes, Milord," Wormtail whispered, looking properly cowed.

Tom nodded, then glanced at Doo. "You know this man?"

"Rick? Yeah. He and Zack roomed together in law school. He was always at the shop so we became really good friends. I'm, actually, amazed that Zack talked him into thi...s..." Doo trailed off, then smiled kindly at the man who was approaching them cautiously. "Hey, Rick."

"Doo." Rick's smile was friendly, though as cautious as his approach. "Listen, mate, I'm sorry about this. I tried to talk Zack out of this whole mess, but he's gotten worse since he took a trip to Stirling..."

"I know." Doo's smile turned sour. "We happened to run into one another there."

"Well, fuck." Rick sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, it's too late to do anything. I'm rooting for you, but...well... You know."

"I know." Doo's eyes danced with understanding. "It's great seeing you again, Rick."

"You too, Doo." Rick reached out a hand and Doo shook it. "Good luck, mate."

"You too," Doo replied.

As Rick turned and started back to where Zack sat, glaring at him, Tom commented, "Something just happened there and it bothers me that I don't know what it was."

"Don't worry, Marvolo, you'll never understand something like friendship," Nick offered brightly.

"I'll hex you blind if you don't shove it, Ripley," Tom growled while Doo groaned and dropped his head into his hands in a resigned way.

"Nicholas," Hertha chastened Nick as she slid into the seat next to him with Renny. School had been cancelled for the day so everyone who wanted to could come to the court hearing. The fact that the hearing was about closing the only candy store in the town helped sway the principal to make his decision. Well, that and the fact that most of the teachers wanted to go and he doubted he could find enough subs on such short notice.

Nick just grinned while Doo squeezed Tom's leg under the table. "Nick, you need to behave," the candy shop owner added.

Nick sighed and slouched in his seat. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry, Marvolo. I don't know how you treat your serv-"

"Everyone rise for the Honourable Judge Brady," the bailiff called, cutting Nick off. Everyone rose and the firm-looking woman entered the room and took her seat. "You may be seated."

Doo ignored the eyes he could feel burning into the side of his head as the bailiff read the charges. He wasn't going to rise up to Zack's non-verbal baitings. He wasn't the old gullible Doo anymore and it was time that Zack learned that.

He was going to win this court case.

-/-

"This case is over, Mr Palmer."

"But-"

"It's _over_."

Zack glared icily at the judge while Tom and Doo traded smirks. They'd known Zack didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning his pitiful little battle. The fact that it had only taken one witness for the judge to recognize that Zack was spouting off bullshit had just proven how pitiful everything was.

"Let's go," Tom suggested, touching Doo's arm gently.

Doo nodded. "Let's."

The two left the courtroom to join all their friends and the members of the town where they had gathered outside, next to the buses. Wormtail followed them only 'til they passed a bathroom, then slipped in and Apparated back to his office to note the case.

"Doo-man won! Doo-man won!" Nick was shouting gleefully when Tom and Doo reached everyone. He was leading the children of the town on a crazed sort of dance around the crowd of grown-ups. When Nick saw Doo, however, he pointed to his boss and shouted, "CHARGE!"

Tom moved quickly out of the way as Doo was brought to his knees by a rush of happy children, laughing along with them in such an innocent manner that Tom found himself able to forget who the man had once been to his world.

Then Zack exited the courthouse and stalked right up to where Doo was. A gasp from one of the children had Doo zooming to his feet and spinning to face Zack quickly, eyes narrowed dangerously. "What now?" the albino-haired man asked coldly as the small crowd of children moved behind the candy man with fear in their eyes.

"You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war," Zack bared his teeth, "Harry Potter."

Doo's eyes went wide and his wand was pointed at Zack's face within the span of a few seconds. "What did you call me?"

Zack smirked. "You heard me, little boy." And then he was gone without a sound.

Through the space Zack had just occupied, Rick and Doo locked eyes filled with shock. Neither could believe the sudden disappearance of the man they'd been friends with.

"Doo!" Tom's voice broke the spell of silence, causing a number of people in the parking lot to shout and a few to scream while most of the children burst into tears. Doo and Rick broke eye contact and Doo turned to hug Tom as he reached him.

"Tom, what just happened?" Doo whispered into his bonded's shoulder, eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"If I had to make a guess, I'd say we've found our daemon."

"Impossible!" Hertha hissed, having run over to ask what had happened herself. "Think before you speak, Marvolo. That _couldn't_ have been the daemon. He's as human as I am!"

"Then how do _you_ explain what just happened, Miss Know-It-All?" Tom hissed back, false green eyes blazing.

"I don't know _how_ to explain it, you bastard! But I _know_ Zack's no-"

"SHUT UP!" Doo shouted, silencing everyone in the immediate vicinity. He pulled away from Tom and glanced around at the Muggles he lived with, eyes quickly spotting Radolf, the town elder. "Radolf, we need to get everyone back on the buses and head for home." Radolf nodded and turned to speak to the townspeople, so Doo turned his attention to his friends. "Hertha, you need to get on the buses. Help calm people down for now."

"But, Doo-"

"I'm not going to argue with you about this, Hertha. We'll discuss what Zack may or may not be once we get back to town and everyone's calmed down. The townspeople are our first priority."

Hertha visibly straightened herself, then nodded, mouth set. "Yes, sir." She spun on the balls of her feet and moved quickly to help Nick and Deva in the herding of children back into the buses with their parents.

Doo turned to Tom. "You have a Pensive, I assume?"

Tom sighed and glanced at the sky for a brief moment before replying, "I'll go get it, then."

"Thank you, Tom," Doo replied with a relieved smile.

"Shall I obtain Ms Gardner and her husband on my way back?" the Dark Lord inquired airily.

"If you could," Doo agreed with a touch of relief.

Tom sighed and wandered off to find an out-of-the-way place to Apparate, waving over his shoulder.

Rick choose that moment to walk up to Doo with a hard look. "What the hell's going on, Tarrent?"

Doo rubbed at his eyes. "If I knew for sure, I'd tell you. Right now, all I can say is that it's some crazy-ass shit." He gave his friend a tired look. "We're heading back to town. Probably going to be a meeting over all this. Feel free to follow along as you please." He turned his back on Rick and started for the car he'd ridden over in with Tom, Deva, and Nick.

"Doo!"

Doo glanced back at the lawyer.

"This better be damn good, man," Rick called before turning away and sprinting over to his own car.

Doo smiled grimly to himself and turned back to where Nick was waving at him. _'You have no idea, Rick.'_

-/-

-/-

**A/N: **It's insanely short, but a reviewer pointed out that I haven't updated in near a month now and I figured it was about time you heard something from me.

As I posted in my fic LJ, school has been taking up much more time than I actually have at my disposal. Between the hell that choir has become and the pile of papers/speeches/and final you-name-its that my professors have been dumping on my head, it seems I have barely enough time to sleep and eat, let alone write. -.-  
On a more cheerful note, the semester ends in a little over three weeks. And then I'll be home. A few days without worrying about _anything_ is on the schedule, then I'll probably be caught back up in work, but I'll certainly work on getting some writing done. Once summer break gets here, I should be back in full force and I may even have a few new fics to keep you entertained.

Now, excuse me as I wander over to my next door neighbours and bitch them out for having their TV on so loud again - it's past 1am here.

Much love!  
Bats - The Tired One

PS - Just remembered; I think I told a number of you that Zack was 100 percent human?...  
...

Yeah, well, I lied. XD


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